A New Student
by ObsidianWing
Summary: Prequel to the trilogy around L and Light with the Wammy boys, Near, Matt, and Mello. In which we find L -under the guise of Ryuzaki - become a student in Light's school. What will happen? If you've read the trilogy, you already know. If not... well, you'll just have to read. :) (Am I getting better at summaries? No? Okay.) *Rated T with some M rated chapters to come later
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Well if it isn't a prequel! That's right, I said I'd write one and I'm happy to do it! To be honest, I was getting kind of tired of writing about all the Wammy boys, plus Light, so this is sort of refreshing! It's about time L and Light got into their respectable spotlight together!**_

_**This a prequel in the "New" universe (That shall be the name of the universe I began a few months prior, considering I don't have any other names for it) and so can be read any time you wish. In fact, I can advise that you read this before going on to the other stories. But that's up to the readers. The point is, I've started writing one of the sequels, the second will be out later on in the year, and then I'll maybe throw in a few more sequels to the original trilogy.**_

_**As always, I hope you enjoy the story, Reviews are much appreciated, and once again thank you all to my wonderful followers and reviewers! I hope you know how incredibly touched I am with all the wonderful feedback I get from you, and I'd just like to say that you all are absolutely amazing! You just make me want to write more you guys are THAT awesome! :D**_

_**Anyways... Enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

"Light!" My mom called to me. "It's time to get up! You've got school in an hour and you haven't even eaten breakfast yet!"

I groaned at the thought of school. As much as I knew it was good for me and my chances at becoming a policeman or detective, I didn't want to get up today. But, all good things must come to an end.

I moved my warm comforter away and crawled out of bed to get changed. As always I'd laid out my clothes for the day beforehand and had everything prepared for school. I was a very organized man with an organized life. It came from the private school I once went to, but I'd asked that my last year in school be spent in public school among my friends. I'd already graduated from that private school early anyway so this year was just for fun.

Well… fun in the sense that I was with my friends I suppose.

Once I was dressed and ready I made my way downstairs to greet the females of the house. My father always left for work early in the morning so I never got to see him for breakfast, but he almost always made it home for dinner. I'd like to have spent more time with him, but his work always seemed to come first. Now, if I were in the hospital that would be a different story. But actually sitting down and listening to what I had to say, what my hopes and dreams were, it was something completely different. I knew he loved me, my sister, and my mother… but it was like he couldn't hear me when I spoke. Like it didn't matter unless it was something he cared to know.

I entered the kitchen to find the two main women of my life. My mother and my sister Sayu.

My mom was one of the best mom's. She always took the time to listen to me, even if I didn't need to talk. She listened to what I wanted and what I dreamed of. She wanted what was best for me as well, but always told me that whatever _I_ wanted was what _she_ wanted. If I was happy, so was she. In truth, I aspired to be more like her than my father. Always listening and hoping for happiness. I'd want that for my kids more than anything in the future. But that was a long ways away.

Sayu turned her head to see me and smiled happily. She was always the first one I saw in the morning with a smile.

She giggled happily after noticing me. "Hey Light! You know you've only got an hour before school starts, right?"

I nodded. "No worries though. I have an A slot spare and I usually use that time to study anyways."

She giggled. "You're such a nerd, Light! You know you could use that time to find a girlfriend."

That was my sister for you. Small, sweet, and pushy. I remember when my parents brought her home from the hospital. I'd hoped for a puppy… but got her instead. Well, she wasn't all that bad I suppose. The only problem I has was babysitting her when we were younger. She was crazy strong when needed to be, and the moment I took a nap she had tied me to a chair and slathered my face in makeup. Let it suffice to say that I never fell asleep around her again. But as soon as she grew up a bit more, she was a lot more fun to hang around with.

I sat down at the table while pushing her playfully. "I don't need a girlfriend, Sayu. I've got enough problems to deal with."

"Oh, Light." My mother reprimanded placing a plate in front of me. "Having a partner in your life would not be a burden."

"Having to care and worry about someone while you have other stuff to care and worry about _isn't_ a burden?" I asked. "I'm sorry, but I fail to see the ups in a relationship. Other than physical relief from stress." I muttered the last part out, earning me a smack to the head.

Ears like a bat my mother had.

I took a bite of my food, and after swallowing I explained myself. "I'm sorry, but I can't see the reason for having a girlfriend so early in life. I mean, I'll be eighteen soon and I still don't see the reason to be with anybody. I have bigger things to worry about."

"Light," she spoke softly, "it's about companionship. We all have the desire to feel loved and that's what it's all for. Someday you'll understand."

I rolled my eyes at her. "And someday I'll be the world's greatest detective. Surpassing even L himself."

Sayu scoffed. "You aren't that smart, Light."

I pushed her off her seat at that point, making her laugh. I suppose she was right, though. No one was smarter than L. He'd solved every case he'd ever taken on, had become known world-wide. Even more, no one knew his face. Not even my father who watched the letter than hid the man work. Ever since I was a child I'd aspired to be like L, but I'd have to settle for just being a detective I guess. Although… to meet L… to _know_ him… it was one of my dreams.

But, dreams were made for sleeping. I learned that at a young age.

Sad but true.

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

"Remember Watari," I directed to my guardian, "I am to be referred to as Ryuzaki the entire time we are here in Japan. No one must know about me, you understand."

"Of course," the older man replied to me as we continued unpacking our equipment.

A moment of silence passed between us before I finally could handle the question brewing inside of me. "Wammy, why must I attend a public school? I've already graduated from the Wammy house, and I'll only be a part of this case for a short time. What can a public school give me what the orphanage didn't?"

The man looked at me with a small grin. "Experience. You aren't a public figure and you've never spent any time with others outside the orphanage. Here's your chance to see what the real world is like for others. You never know, you might actually enjoy it."

I scoffed at this. "A public school has two elements to it, Wammy. The 'ins' and the 'outs'. Once I arrive, I'll be an 'out' for sure. Schools like this have no place for me. The Wammy house had much better opportunities for me than this school you've picked out for me."

Wammy smiled at me before pulling me into a warm hug. "I know you aren't fond of public schools. But you missed out on so much as a child that I just want you to have this experience. And you never know, you might find someone worth being friends with."

"At a public school?" I questioned, backing away from him. "And here I thought you had no sense of humour."

The man chuckled as he continued unpacking our things once again. "You'll see. You might just enjoy yourself."

I grinned a bit at the old man. Ever since he'd found me on the street years ago I'd loved him like my own father. He had fed me, clothed me, and had given me a title worth living for. I was no longer the nameless street urchin from England. I was L, the world's greatest detective and mastermind. No one could equal my genius, and I dared anyone to try. It couldn't be done, and I didn't want it to be done. I wanted to be special. And L was special.

But Ryuzaki? He'd be an outcast the moment he started school.

I just knew it.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Second chapter up and ready. I got a full day off tomorrow so expect at least one chapter tomorrow!  
><strong>_

_**As I've said before, and shall say in future, Enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

School was never really a huge issue for me. My grades were phenomenal, being that I was top of the class, my teachers all adored me, and the close friends I had were incredibly trust worthy. My problems? The other students.

Not that I wasn't a popular guy, but I was an indigenous 'nerd' by most aspects and more times than not I had been bullied mercilessly because of it. There was a time when I wasn't as well groomed as I was now. I'd had vision problems as a child and had to wear glasses, my first problem around bullies, I loved to read books, the second problem, and to top it all off I wasn't… well… good-looking. In fact, the only girl that ever talked to me was my childhood friend Teri. She stuck with me throughout my entire life, defending me, picking me up when I was down… stopping the suicidal thoughts.

However, the moment I'd been accepted into a private school, things changed for me. Within three years of private school, having graduated two years early, I became the man everyone wanted. Bully problems didn't affect me much in public school, considering most of the female populace wanted me more than they did back when I was a growing teen. But, there was the odd male bully that would pop up every now and then. As long as I ignored them, however, there wasn't much they could do to me. Besides, I was a lot smarter than them anyways. Like anything they said mattered when I was the school's best and brightest student. Groomed into perfection his entire life.

That was Light Yagami.

I walked up to the front doors of the school, desperate to be out of the cold winter air. February was just coming to an end and exams were already over, which meant second semester was about to begin. Lucky me I only had a few courses this semester. My first class, after an A slot spare for the morning, would be Language Arts, then Science, after lunch would be Drama class, then an E slot spare to end the day. I'd done over six classes in the last semester, plus the extra credits I earned that I transferred over from my private school, made it so I didn't have to really take any more classes. I just went to school because I wanted to hang out with Teri.

As always, the moment I entered the school, I found her at my locker. Thank god that she was the only girl who didn't have a crush on me. I don't know that I'd be able to take the stress.

She greeted me with a smile. "Hey slacker! Did you finally take my advice and sleep in today?"

I started on the lock to my locker with a small grin. "No, Teri. I decided to eat a second serving of breakfast then come to school."

"You know, I don't get you." She said bluntly. "You have two of the best spares this school could offer, and you use them to study for something you don't need to study for. I swear to god you're an alien in disguise of a hot high school guy."

I got my stuff and put away my coat. "So now I'm hot? Yesterday I was the epitome of boring. So what changed?"

"Nothing. I'm just talking from the 'girls' point of view. And I said you were the epitome of seriousness. Not boring."

She gave a short pause. "But you are the _king_ of boring some days."

I sighed to her. "You know something, it's times where you say stuff like that that makes me question our friendship."

She gave me a playful shove. "Shut up, you know you love me!"

I closed my locker and grabbed my things. "But I question why I do many times in my life."

Just as she was about to hit me again, a familiar brother of hers strode up towards us. His long green hair making him the center of attention.

"Green?" I questioned. "What happened to blue, Tam?"

He shrugged. "I like green. Simple as that."

I rolled my eyes at him. Tamlen was Teri's twin brother. Other than his odd nature, there wasn't much to him. Sometimes he was deep and thoughtful… other times we wondered if he was on crack. Today was kind of in the middle for him though, which was an odd sight. But he was quite loyal as a friend and I'd known him for as long as I knew Teri.

He gave a slight hit to my arm. "So listen, Amane and Takada were fighting about you again."

I immediately shrunk at this, sighing heavily to myself. "What about, this time?"

He chuckled. "Which one you're taking to grad."

I pinched my brow at this. Takada and Misa were two other girls a part of my friend group. They had been good friends until they started fighting about me. In truth, all I'd had to do was walk into the room, and their friendship was over.

It was not a fun ride for me.

I growled a bit. "I'm not taking anyone to graduation. I'm just going to graduate with friends. Besides this isn't happening for a while yet."

"Yeah, but you know how girls can be." Tamlen nodded.

Teri scoffed. "How would you know anything about girls, Tam? You've been chasing after Amane throughout your entire time here in school. She's not interested."

Tamlen still smiled. "She will love me someday. Just you wait."

"Like how Takada will ever love Mikami." I commented.

Tamlen hissed a bit in mental pain. "Which reminds me, I left him with our bickering babes in the cafeteria. We should probably go save him."

Teri shook her head. "You are a terrible friend."

"What? You think I left him there on purpose?!"

We both cocked an eyebrow at him.

A moment went by before he chuckled. "Yeah, okay, I did!"

Teri sighed heavily. "Come on, Light. Let's go save his sorry ass."

Before I'd even taken two steps after her the principal started calling after me.

"Light, would you hold on a second?"

I turned to her, stopping in my tracks. "Yes? What is it you need, Miss?"

She stopped in front of me. "Light Yagami, there is a new student here from England that's come to learn at our establishment. He doesn't know his way around the school yet, so I thought that you might want to take him on a tour. I'll personally excuse you from classes today to do so if you choose to accept."

I looked back to Teri and Tamlen who were pantomiming begging positions so that they didn't have to deal with Misa and Takada alone.

Well…

I turned back to her. "Of course! I'm eager to help!"

I could hear Tamlen hit his head against the lockers in frustration.

"Then come with me, please." She ordered as she began walking away. I followed close behind her the entire walk to the office, happy that I didn't have to deal with Misa or Takada for the day.

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><p>My first impression of him was, 'what in god's green earth is he'. He was… I don't even know what the words were. Abnormal? Odd? Freaky? There were many words that described him… none seemed to be positive.<p>

He wore an oversized, stretched out, white long-sleeved shirt with baggy pants and untied shoes. His hair was a complete and utter mess and his eyes had the darkest circles underneath them. I could see now why the principal wanted to pawn him off to someone else. This guy was… scary! What in god's name was he thinking coming to school looked like that? Did he have no self-respect to even clean himself up for his first day of school?

But, despite his looks, he showed no animosity towards me or the principal. So, I suppose I had to give him a chance.

The principal introduced us. "Light Yagami, meet Ryuzaki. He's a student from the UK, here to learn from Japan's best public school. And Ryuzaki, this is Light Yagami, Japan's best and brightest student! Highest grades, honour roll, and top of his class! He will be giving you a tour of the school today!"

Soon enough she left us be to go do some personal work of her own, and we were left to each other.

I decided to be friendly in hopes he'd trust me.

I held out my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryuzaki."

Although he was from the UK, his Japanese was spot on. "Charmed, Mr. Yagami. Excuse me if I don't shake your hand though. I'm not much of a physical person, so do forgive me for this."

I blinked in surprise. "Oh… of course." I pulled my hand away. "Let's get on with the tour then."

He scoffed a bit. "Lead the way, I suppose."

This guy was just… odd. Honestly there was something off about him, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

But I knew it was there. I just had to find it.

When we entered the foyer of the school, having come from the office, he became a bit more talkative. "So tell me, how much arse kissing did you have to do to become top of a public school?"

I turned to him. "Excuse me?"

"It's a public school, Mr. Yagami. I doubt there was much effort involved on your part. Do an impressive trick or two, or have your nose firmly up their arse, either way… it's a cheap way to get out on top. People who earn their grade point average are the ones who deserve to be on the top of the heap."

I decided to play his snarky little game. "Actually, it wasn't very difficult for me, considering I transferred most of my credits to this school from a private school I once went to. I earned a scholarship to the school and completed the courses two years early."

"So then why are you in public school? Why waste your time?"

"I happen to have friends that go here. Excuse me if I'd like to graduate alongside them."

He gave a slight scoff of disapproval. "What a waste. But let's save us the time of this pathetic tour, Yagami. I'm more than aware of where my classes happen to be, and I'd like for this day to end already."

"Believe me, I would to." I muttered to myself before straightening up a bit. "Let's just get on with it. At least neither of us have to go to class."

I took a step forward before feeling something around my ankle and I fell forward onto the ground, grabbing attention from everyone in the halls.

I looked back irritably at the dark haired guy behind me.

He sneered. "Oops."

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

The brunette got up almost immediately and brushed himself off before continuing his tour with me. My first thought concerning Light Yagami was that he was a spoiled brat with concept of hard work. I doubted more than anything that he knew of the struggles and plights of the other students, and he dared to walk about this school with his head held high like he owned the place. I'd met his kind before. Arrogant, prideful, completely full of himself… this was what Light Yagami was.

But there was something more about him that I hadn't liked. I couldn't put my finger on it but I knew there was something off about him. I felt something in the pit of my stomach and chest whenever I looked at him. But I was unsure of what it was.

Well, noting I could do about it. So I followed him. Throughout the entire tour I made a conscious effort to make this tour a living hell for him.

By the end of the day, we wanted nothing to do with each other.

Good. I had my own priorities. None of which involving that pompous airhead of a student.

Light Yagami… what a god awful person.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Expect at least one more chapter for today. Just a heads up.  
><strong>_

_**Enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

"So how was your first day of school?" Wammy asked as he drove us home.

I glared at him a bit. "Well what do you think?"

He chuckled. "Ryuzaki, did you even try to give it a chance?"

I growled a bit. "Wammy, you know as much as I do that public school does not suit me. I am a Wammy's kid, smarter than any other normal child out there. I cannot stand to be treated like a moron, for I am not so."

"Is that what happened today?" He asked.

"Yes. They actually got their 'top student' to show me around, thinking I was a moron and couldn't find my classes." I shuddered. "And that Light Yagami they introduced me to. What a pathetic waste. He actually graduates from a private school early and he throws away his time in public school. What a joke. All because he wanted to graduate with his friends."

Wammy chuckled. "You find this a waste of time? Wanting to be with friends?"

"Yes. Friends are a waste of time. What happens if you pick the wrong friend, Wammy? You get your heart broken or your feelings hurt. Intelligent people don't need to rely on friendship."

A moment of silence passed before the man spoke again. "But that doesn't mean they don't go searching for it."

I cringed inward a bit at this. "I… suppose you're correct."

We finally pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. The entire time, Wammy still spoke with me.

"Ryuzaki, you cannot simply turn down friendship purely because you find no reason to enjoy it. If you have the opportunity to make a friend or two, then go for it. You never know what you may find. And as for this Light Yagami person." He said as he opened the door to the house for me. "You should apologize to him tomorrow."

"And why should I do that?" I demanded.

Wammy just looked at me, knowing I'd done something to him I probably shouldn't have.

I growled once more. "Fine. But only if he approaches me first." I agreed as I walked into the house. From the moment I stepped in I saw a blinking light on my laptop indicating a transceiver message from the Wammy house. It could only mean one person.

I jumped onto the couch and I opened the laptop immediately to connect to the other computer. Sure enough, two little heads were awaiting my transmission. One red headed, the other blonde. My top two kids at the house, Matt and Mello. Being gone for a month beforehand, I'd begun to miss them terribly.

The moment Matt noticed I was online he pushed Mello who fell out of his chair because of that. And, of course, the blonde had to get him back by pushing Matt out of his chair.

_"Dude, what was that for!?"_ The red head started up._ "You told me to wake you when L came online!"_

_"I told you to wake me, not push me off my chair!"_

"Boys." I reminded them I was there.

They finally calmed down and happily greeted me at the same time.

I chuckled at the two. They couldn't stay mad at each other for two seconds. It was damn near impossible.

"So what's going on at the orphanage?" I asked as Wammy set down a cup of tea with a bowl of sugar next to me. "I haven't kept up to date with me being gone for nearly a month."

Mello slammed his head on the desk the moment I said 'nearly'. What on earth…?

Matt patted him on the back and explained. _"You remember that new kid you brought back last time you were here? Near was his name."_ Mello slammed his head on the desk again. _"Well, he's getting pretty close to passing us in the successor program, and Mello isn't taking it too well."_

Ah, yes. Near. I'd brought him to the Wammy house a few weeks ago. I thought he had potential, but I didn't think he'd pass Matt and Mello by now. Extraordinary.

I decided to console Mello. "Don't be too heartbroken, Mello. No matter what you're always first in my books."

_"Quit lying to me, L."_ He said, still having his head down. _"You may have everyone else fooled when it comes to lying, but I can tell when you're bullshitting me."_

"Language." I warned. "You're nine, you shouldn't be talking like that."

He looked up at me. _"Fine."_

Matt broke the tension then. _"So, Miss Abigale sent me to Roger's office yesterday!"_

I blinked. "How are you happy about that?"

He giggled. _"Got me out of doing the dishes in cooking!"_

_"Yeah, leaving me to do them!" _ The blonde exclaimed. _"Sometimes, Matt, I wish you'd behave."_

_"And I wish you were more fun!"_ He giggled out.

I rolled my eyes. "And I wish I could understand you two. But that's a mystery I'll solve for another day. Is there anything else going on up there that I should know about?"

The two looked at each other before both replying, _"No."_

"Boys, I'm tired but I'm not stupid. What's going on?"

They were both quiet for the longest time before Mello answered. _"Derek came around looking for you."_

I groaned under my breath at this, but it was Wammy who stepped in at this point.

"What did he want?" He asked angrily.

_"Who else?" _Matt answered.

"And what did you tell him?"

Mello answered this. _"We told him if he came around again, we'd skin him alive and feed his flesh to rabid wolves! He turned tail pretty fast after that."_

Wammy seemed pleased by this. "Well, after the going away 'present' you gave him after we all found out…"

"That's enough, Wammy." I demanded. "It's late and I need to start working on my case."

_"What?" _ Matt started up. _"It's like nine in the morning over here!"_

"And it's almost sunset over here, Matt." I reminded him. "We're in two different parts of the world."

_"Oh, right!"_ The red head realized. _"Well, we'll let you get back to work! Luv ya, L!"_

I giggled a bit at the boy with goggles. He was always so positive, even in the worst of times.

Before going offline, Mello gave me a pleading look. _"You're coming home soon, right?"_

I nodded. "I promise to be home as soon as I can. But I won't have time to contact you two anymore. Only call me if there's an emergency."

_"Classification of an emergency?"_ The blonde asked.

I smiled a bit. "Wammy's is being attacked, or Matt set fire to the place by accident."

_"HEY! Why am I always the one who sets things on fire!?" _The red head demanded.

_"Because you set fire to the entire home economics room, and we were just sewing that day!"_ Mello reminded.

The boy was silent for a bit before sinking in his chair. _"Fine."_

Mello turned back to me. _"We'll keep an eye on things. Don't worry!"_

"I don't have to with you two around. Take care."

With that, our transmission ended and I shut my laptop. But Wammy wasn't done quite yet.

"You'll have to face Derek at some point, L."

"Ryuzaki." I reminded. "And Derek will have to wait."

"After all he did to you, you're going to let him win this?"

"Could you please hand me the file of the victims? After that I'll need to come into contact with the Japanese task force before continuing. I'll need some help in this case if I'm going to be going to school, _and_ taking on this case."

I successfully managed to steer clear of the Derek situation for this time. But I knew it would come up again later. I knew Wammy wanted me to face him and tell him off for all the horrid things he'd done to me. But I wasn't ready. It had only been a month since Mello and Matt kicked him out for me, and Wammy put a restraining order on him. They all still wondered why I'd fallen for him, and to be honest with myself I had no idea either. It kinda just… happened.

But enough of morbid things for the day. I had to work now and get this case done so I could leave for home as soon as possible.

And be away from that damned school and that damned Light Yagami for the rest of my life.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: One more chapter for tonight, then I must go to bed. But I only have one class in university tomorrow, so chapters might be early. (Don't count on it though, because my campus is HUGE and I have to walk a lot.)**_

_**As always, thank you for the many followers and favourites! You are all incredibly awesome, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

While waiting for my class to begin I leaned against the hallway wall in an angry fashion. That guy from yesterday made me never want to speak with him again! He had been rude, annoying, and absolutely childish! I couldn't believe there were actual people like him on this earth! It absolutely amazed me! And of course, the moment it was all over and I could go home, I locked myself in my room screamed into my pillow with pure anger and frustration. Thank god I'd never have to associate with him again.

Teri caught up to me with Misa and Takada in tow. Just what I needed, more stress!

She punched my arm. "So how'd it go yesterday with the new guy?"

Before I could answer, Misa grabbed my arm to nuzzle it. "Quit hitting him!" Her whiny voice echoed through the halls. "You don't want to hurt him, do you!?"

Takada just rolled her eyes. "Misa, he's a lot stronger than you give him credit for."

She nuzzled into my arm again. "I know."

Takada's eyes narrowed at her but before she said anything we were joined by Tamlen a Mikami. They'd rushed to get to class since they both had Phys. Ed. in the morning and were usually late.

They dropped to the floor thanking the gods that they weren't late again.

Tamlen held his chest. "Mr. Bard made us run laps… we were almost late again…"

Mikami then spoke. "I got us out of there… no problem though!"

Teri held her nose the moment she took a step towards her brother. "Jesus Tam! Did you two even shower!?"

"Nope! How do you think we got here on time?!"

We all took a step back from them at this point. Tamlen didn't seem to know why, but Mikami was more than embarrassed.

"I don't suppose any of you ladies carry perfume?" He asked. "Not even I can stand the smell at this point."

Takada giggled and tossed him a bottle of body mist. "It's all I've got, but it should cover the stench."

Mikami happily doused himself with the smell of pineapples and… something else I could decipher. Ginger maybe? Well, it was better than what he smelled like before.

He offered the bottle to Tamlen who took a pass.

"I like to smell like a man, thank you very much." He said as he raised his arms to flex his non-existent muscles.

We all got a whiff of him and stepped farther back from him, gagging at the smell. Of course, it didn't help that Tamlen never took a bath or shower. Once a week was apparently his limit. The only thing clean about him were his clothing, and that was only because Teri and her grandmother raided his bedroom to wash them.

Another thing about Teri and Tamlen was hat they were from the states. Their parents sent them to Japan to live with their grandmother so they could learn the value of hard work with her. The only thing was… they always came to school with more than outrageous stories about her… that turned out to be true. Like the skydiving trip they were planning for spring break that was coming up.

It was scary, but they had proof.

Teri sighed, then turned to me. "So anyway, how did it go with that guy you were supposed to give a tour to of the school? What was he like?"

I shuddered. "Let me put it to you this way, I NEVER want to see him again! End of story."

She giggled. "Wow, was it that bad?!"

"Worse! Can we please drop it now?!"

Tamlen then spoke up. "What, was he like creepy or something?"

"Yes! And rude, and childish, and completely infuriating! He deliberately tripped me! TRIPPED ME! For absolutely no reason!"

The girls chuckled at this but it was Takada who spoke. "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you this upset before. This guy must be a real pain."

Tamlen laughed. "Or Light has a crush on him!"

I narrowed my eyes at him, flaring my nostrils. It was the cue for him to take it back and cower.

And he did, but also replied with, "You know, most people when they complain about other people have a crush on said person."

"Believe me, Tam." I growled. "The moment you meet him, you'll understand my frustration."

The bell rang out for classes to switch and the class before mine emptied out. Before long I had entered my class and found my seat. Within moments though I saw a familiar face walk into the science room and I immediately felt anger once again.

Sure enough, Ryuzaki was in my class. It was like fate or something!

I breathed heavily while lightly slamming my head against the table. "Why do the gods hate me so?"

"No way, is that him?!" Teri whispered to me. "He's so… well… weird-looking."

Misa nodded in agreement. "It looks like he hasn't showered in months!"

"He makes Tamlen look like a clean freak." Takada started up.

I simply ignored them. I knew all too well the assumptions on him. And I'm too sure that they were all true. But it was best to just act like he wasn't there. If he wasn't there, he couldn't bother me.

The class soon began.

"Hello class," our teacher began. "Today we have a new student with us. A Mr. Ryuzaki is it?"

The class turned to the freak sitting at his desk and more than a few giggles broke out. I was just plain stunned.

The guy was actually sitting on his chair, knees to his chest, as he bit his thumbnail. As if the clothing and hygiene wasn't enough, the guy had to sit weird to! I honestly began to believe that this guy wasn't a normal human being. Maybe he'd been tested on by the US government and was in hiding. I mean, 'Ryuzaki'? That sure seemed like a Japanese name, but he was as pale as snow! He was definitely Caucasian, but he spoke Japanese so fluently and perfectly he might as well be Japanese himself! He was just… freaky!

The freaky guy at the back of the class nodded. "Yes. Ryuzaki is my name."

The teacher semi-smiled at him. "Well, welcome to our classroom. You've come at a great time, because for the rest of the month we're going to be working on our own individual science projects and presenting them after spring break."

The rest of the class groaned but the teacher was still smiling. "I know it isn't fun, but this time… you get to work with partners!"

Many people in the class were happy with this. Many, but not me. Working with a partner only meant one thing with me; I did all the work. More times than not I got a female partner who would just sit beside me and stare at me. If I got a male partner, he was either too slow to catch up, or too lazy to do anything.

The teacher quieted us down before he announced, "But I'll be choosing the partners."

Groans spread across the room again. Well, at least it saved me from being bombarded by the other students.

My science teacher then read out the lists of partners.

"Alright, with Ryuzaki now joining us, we now have an odd number of people in our class, so there will be one group of three. Misa, Teri, and Takada, I will assign you three together."

I leaned in to Teri to whisper to her. "I owe you one, BIG time."

"You owe me TEN!" She whispered back, making me smile a bit.

The teacher then rattled off the other names until he got to the last few.

"…Tamlen and Mikami."

The two high fived each other. The two always worked together no matter what and it seemed even the teacher agreed with the two.

"Light you'll be partnered up with Ryuzaki…" he said, then spoke the next couple.

I fell into silence before turning to Teri. "Did he say…?"

She smiled evilly. "Nevermind. Looks like we're both going to suffer."

The teacher finished with the partners then ended by telling us to get into our seas beside our partners. "Until after spring break, your partners are your new neighbors. For the rest of this class, I want you all to take this opportunity to talk with your partners about possible projects.

"Begin!"

Everyone began moving to their respective seats but me and Ryuzaki. I don't know why he didn't move, but I didn't because I hadn't wanted to be his partner.

When I was about to call the teacher aside and ask for a new partner, Teri kicked me out of my seat.

"Listen, Yagami." She threatened. "If I have to work with two girls who are just going to fight over you, you're going to work with the guy you hate! Got it!"

I nodded hastily while grabbing my stuff, heading over to the strange guy sitting awkwardly at his desk. Although I despised this more than anything, I knew there was really no point in arguing with anyone about it. I just had to face the music.

I sat beside the man and tried my hardest not to growl. "Well, I guess we have to work together, whether we like it or not. So I say we just…"

"I apologize, Light Yagami."

I blinked at the guy. "Uh… excuse me?"

He dug into his pockets and pulled out a few sweets that looked wholly unfamiliar to me. The wrapping had English writing on it, but I couldn't pronounce it correctly in my mind.

He popped on of the candies in his mouth. "I realize how I acted yesterday was completely childish and uncalled for. I apologize and I hope we can look past our differences in order to get this project done." He then looked me in the eyes and I felt my heart stop. "Am I forgiven?"

There was something… unnatural in his eyes. They weren't empty, but full of… what? Something about them made my mind go fuzzy and my chest tighten a bit. It was definitely a new feeling for me… but I didn't hate it completely.

I nodded when I couldn't find any words to speak. "I… erm… yes. Sorry, I was just distracted."

"Oh? With what might I ask?" He began then looked down at the sweets on the table. He then rolled one to me. "If you would like to try one, all you have to do is ask."

I took the excuse. "Erm… it's not that. I just don't understand the writing." I began to unwrap the sweet to read it better. Of course, I didn't waste the treat, but right as I tried to read the writing I was taken by surprise at the flavour. It was incredibly sugary, sweet, and had the strong taste of strawberry. It was actually quite good.

"The writing says 'Strawberry'." He explained. "It just says the flavour. But the name of the brand is 'Emperor's Pick'. I highly doubt that you know this brand, but it's quite popular where I'm from."

Strawberry? That's all it said? It looked a lot longer than that, but I suppose he was correct. I'd taken some English reading courses, but I'd never heard anyone speak fluent English. Well, other than Teri and Tamlen a few times, but I only knew a few words of what they said.

"You don't know very many English words, do you?" Ryuzaki guessed. "No need to feel discouraged. I speak a many number of languages, so I know the difficulty of learning the correct letters, nouns, pronouns, and the like… but if you would like to learn more English, I'd be happy to teach you. It is my native tongue."

I hummed at this. "I suppose. But we should focus on the science project."

"I already have an idea." He said as he pointed to the window slightly, towards the sky. Looking out, though, I couldn't see anything in the sky but clouds.

"Uh… clouds?" I asked.

"Precisely. With enough time and research, we may be able to make our own cloud. A man-made cloud, if you will. It has been done in the past, so why not?"

"Ryuzaki, the people who did that had the resources and the money to do it. Unless you're talking about making one in a jar, we won't have the time or resources to…"

"Leave the resources to me, Mr. Yagami."

I sighed. "Just 'Light' is fine. And how would you able to pay for it?"

"I have my means. Besides, this is a project I've wanted to do since I was a child. The time seems perfect now, so let's try it. If worst comes to worst, we do a project on a potato clock or geodes. The teacher will be impressed either way."

I thought about this for a second. "I suppose… but would we have the time?"

"If we start tomorrow morning we will. It is the weekend, and we have now and lunch to figure out what it is we need to make this happen. If you give me your number I'll text you where our cloud will take shelter."

I once again hummed. "Alright. I suppose we could give it a try."

"Then let us make a list for the things we will need to make this happen."

And with that, a partnership was born. To be honest with myself, Ryuzaki wasn't actually all that bad. Maybe he just wasn't in a good state of mind yesterday and lost his control on his behaviour. But, all in all, he was really doing his part with this project. For once, I was going along someone else's idea instead of my own.

This might not be so bad.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Last chapter for the night. Sorry if it's a bit lackluster, I'll fix anything I can tomorrow, but I gotta get some sleep.  
><strong>_

_**Thank you all for sticking around, reviews appreciated, and I hope to see you all tomorrow!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

"Why exactly are you taking from just the dessert line?" I asked the strange teen.

"Because I have low blood sugar and a love for sweet things. It works out quite well actually. But I need the cake and sweets to help me function. It's actually a well-known fact that a person with a high metabolism and thin frame is more likely to enjoy sweets."

"So, that's all you eat? Sweets?"

"And the occasional restaurant food. I do go out to eat more times than not. But there are many foods my body cannot take. Sweets have a natural sugar to them that I need in order to function. It's a deeper process than I'd like to get into."

"Question withheld then."

After getting our food from the line we headed for a table. After sitting, the questions began.

"Something has been on my mind, Light."

"Oh? And what's that?" I asked before taking a bite.

He paused for a moment. "It was my understanding that English is a compulsory course here in Japan. So why have you not learned it by now? Surely you were at least given the opportunity."

I shrugged. "I was, but my father pulled me out of the course in school after a few years. He hired a tutor for me that taught me how to speak English. He said I wouldn't need to learn how to write it. I can understand English. If you were to speak to me in such I'd know what you were saying. But I can't read or write it."

He seemed unimpressed with this answer. "How can you understand it, but not read or write it?"

"Well, I also have two friends from overseas who taught me as well. They weren't very good teachers when it came to writing English though."

"But why would your father pull you out of the class? That doesn't make sense. English is the most common language in the world, and you'd need to know it."

"Like I said, I can speak and understand it. But I can't read or write it. It's just confusing for me. By the time I was offered the course again I turned it down. My father told me I wouldn't be leaving Japan anytime soon anyways, so why learn it?"

He didn't answer me. He simply huffed as he dug into his bag and pulled out a few sheets of paper and wrote down something on them.

When he finished writing, he put the paper in front of me and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

I looked down and saw all the English letters going from A to Z. "Yes. It's the English alphabet. Teri showed it to me once, but I couldn't quite grasp what she was trying to teach me. Then again, Tamlen was messing with me and telling me all these made up words in English to screw me up."

He ignored my story. "Write each letter so it looks like the ones I wrote."

I blinked before picking up his pen and expertly copying them down. He seemed rather impressed by this.

"So now write what I am saying to you." He said in complete English.

And this is where I faltered a bit. I'd taken a few English courses, about three years' worth as a child, but I couldn't remember what it was I'd learned.

He waited patiently as I remembered what he'd said. As smart as I was, and I was a genius in the trade, I still hated myself because I never learned to write in English. And now it was coming back to bite me.

I took a chance and used the letters I thought would fit then handed the page to Ryuzaki.

He studied it closely and was once again impressed. "I thought you told me you didn't know how to write in English?"

I shrugged. "To be honest, I took a guess. I guess I retained a few things from elementary school."

"I see. Well, if you can at least speak the language I suppose you aren't hopeless. I suggest taking up an English course while you're still here even if your father doesn't allow it."

"To be honest, once more, he wanted me to learn it but thought I'd just waste my time on learning to read and write English. As long as I could partially speak it, I would be alright…"

"Wrong." He said bluntly as he took a bite of his cake. "When learning a language you have to know all the ins and outs of it. Even reading and writing it. Take up the course, Light. It'll save your life. Just tell them you want to learn how to read and write it and the teacher will help you. If not, come to me. I'm more than willing to give you a lesson."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why would you help me?" I asked.

Another bite of his cake. "First things first, when speaking to me, speak in English. You'll grow more fluent in the language and start to understand what letters to use while writing words. With how much you know right now, I doubt it'll take you very long to learn."

I suppose I could agree to this. So this time I asked in English. "Why would you help me?"

"Hm… not bad." He commented as he finished his cake off. "To answer your question, because it's a good side project for me. I'm bored to death of this school and I've only been here a day and a half."

"So I'm a project to you?" I asked, feeling a little insulted by this.

"I suppose you are. But it benefits both you and me. You can learn all English has to offer you, and I can relieve some boredom. So what do you say?"

I thought about the offer for a quick second before turning it down. "No thanks. I have enough on my plate at the moment."

"Then do you read?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes, it's one of my past times."

He then brought out a book and handed it to me. "Read this, then. It's in English but I have confidence that you will be able to read the entire thing."

Since I couldn't quite understand the title, I asked what book it was.

He sighed. "Light, it's three simple words. Read it yourself."

I groaned a bit before doing as told. It took a few moments but I managed to read them easily after a bit.

"War and Peace? I've already read this."

"Good, so you know the English words to it already."

I blinked a bit. "I… suppose… We just finished it in my literary course."

"So then read it this week. It shouldn't be too difficult for you. Top of his class, best grades of the school. If you can read that entire thing in a week, I'll stop bugging you about English."

This sounded like a challenge to me. "Alright, but when I do finish it you have to do something for me."

"And I thought I was being childish before today." He commented. "But proceed."

"If I can read one paragraph from the novel, without stuttering, you give me some more of those Emperor's Choice candies."

He seemed almost hesitant about that, but showed no fear. "Fine. But I pick the paragraph, and if you _can't_ read it, you give all the credit to me on our science project."

I stuck out my hand. "Deal."

He took my hand and we shook on it.

"Now, back to the business of our project." He started.

The bell rang and it was time to change our classes.

I blinked in surprise. "Dammit! We used up our entire lunch hour!"

"I have drama next, but I suppose I could text you the details of where and when to meet tomorrow."

"Drama?" I asked in surprise. "I have the same class…"

"Good, then we can talk while we're there." He slid out of his odd sitting position. "Let us be off."

"But…"

"Light, we don't have all day. I may not like the school but it's rude to be late. Let's go."

I was taken aback by his rather chastising nature. I mean… we weren't exactly friends, so why did he care about my welfare? Was this just the way he was?

I decided to ignore it and grabbed my things, running to catch up with him. "By the way, I should warn you about the drama teacher."

"Oh? What's she like?"

It was a long pause before I said anything. "She's… a drama teacher."

* * *

><p>She just kept spinning around and around our teacher. Staring at the ceiling at some unknown entity. I had to admit… she was one of my favourite teachers. Miss Tycko, she called herself, but I highly doubt that was her real name. I think she just liked that name more than her real one. She was always happy, bubbly, and ready to put on a good show. She said she'd lived and worked on Broadway, but again I doubted that.<p>

She was quite the teacher though.

She finally stopped spinning and looked at us happily. "So, has everyone completed their assignments?"

Ryuzaki leaned in to whisper to me. "First of all, thank you for the warning."

This made me smile. "Don't mention it."

"And second of all, what assignment?"

"We all have to do a famous soliloquy in one of Shakespeare's plays. English or Japanese, it doesn't matter. She just wants to see how well we do in a performance. But no one here likes going first. Nerves and all that. Well, everyone but…"

"Did no one complete the assignment?" Miss Tycko asked. "Not even you, Mr. Yagami."

"I completed it, Miss. I'd be happy to go first."

Ryuzaki coughed. "Kiss arse!" And coughed again.

I narrowed my eyes at him, standing up before the audience. Once I was center stage, I explained which soliloquy I chose.

"I will be performing the rather famous soliloquy from Hamlet."

Miss Tycko began to clap. "What a nice choice!"

I took a breath before reciting the lines in practiced English.

"To be, or not to be? That is the question—

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles…"

"Might I stop you there, Light?"

Everyone turned their attentions towards Ryuzaki who had interrupted me.

Miss Tycho seemed put off by this. "Is there something wrong, Ryuzaki?"

"Yes. Light seems to be butchering Hamlet's greatest act in the entire play. I can't stand the mistake he is making with this soliloquy."

"Oh, but, I thought it was perfect!" Miss Tycho complimented me.

Ryuzaki took a breath before slowly rising from his seat.

"To be… or not to be?" He began. "That is the question."

"Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

"The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…

"Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

"And, by opposing, end them?" He paused, looking to the floor in sorrow. "To die, to sleep—

"No more—and by a sleep to say we end

"The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

"That flesh is heir to—'tis a consummation

"Devoutly to be wished!" He cried, sending shivers down my spine. He then turned morbid again.

"To die, to sleep.

"To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub," he offered sadly, turning away from the audience.

"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

"When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,

"Must give us pause. There's the respect

"That makes calamity of so long life."

He ended the soliloquy there and the audience went crazy over his performance. Even Miss Tycko was in tears. My friends, who had sat at the back of the class that day, were cheering loudly for Ryuzaki's performance. And I had to say… he deserved the praise.

He then spoke to me. "There is no way on earth you will ever be able to comprehend and perform that scene, Light, unless you know what it is to almost end your life in pure agony. Hamlet is losing everything in this play. His father, his mother, his own MIND! What is losing his life to him but a mere relief? Have that emotion behind it next time you want to entertain the idea of performing a piece as masterful as that."

As we both sat down in our seats once more, after he showed me up in my own scene, I leaned in to whisper to him.

"You were quite wonderful, Ryuzaki. Maybe I should learn to read English from you."

"You've made your choice, Mr. Yagami. I only give out offers once."

I hummed at this. "Then I hope I can learn to read English before my next Drama assignment."

"You can." He encouraged. "You did alright with this scene. But you just didn't have much emotion behind the words. Pick and choose your scenes carefully."

I nodded at this. "I'll try. Oh, and Ryuzaki," I captured his attention. "Just call me Light. Okay?"

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

As Miss Tycho began to get more people out on stage to perform, more nervous now because I'd embarrassed Light Yagami himself, I looked up at the brunette.

He seemed less… angry at me than yesterday.

I looked away again. "Alright then… Light."

The name rolled off the tongue rather well now that we were on better terms. But I had no intention of befriending him. I still had a case to work on and friendship would not suffice during this.

Besides, we were just lab partners for science…

Nothing more.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: Ever had one of those nights where you shut off the light, get cuddled into your blankets... and can;t fall asleep? That's my hell at the moment.  
><strong>_

_**So, I guess I'll write chapters until I can't take the overwhelming exhaustion. :)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

"So there are lacerations around the victim's torso?"

"Yes." Wammy replied. "But nothing too deep. Meaning they weren't intended to be the killing blows."

"The same lacerations on the male bodies. Meaning our killer is nothing more than an everyday serial killer. Probably has some sort of sexual tendencies around it. But he's doing his killings spastically and with no reason to it. Whenever he feels like it, or needs that rush, he needs to kill. The majority of man and woman are the same so it's far less likely this has anything to do with relations and sex. These are the types of monsters that need to be leashed. It's absolutely terrible that this is being done."

"I agree." Wammy commented. "So we must find this killer and soon."

I sighed. "You'd think that the task force could do this themselves and quit wasting my time, but I suppose since I'm being paid for this I might as well continue."

My phone suddenly buzzed and I looked at the number. It was Yagami. But what was he doing texting me so late at night?

_"Where are we meeting today?"_

Today?

I looked out my window and saw that it was indeed late in the morning. I suppose I lost track of time.

I looked to Wammy. "Did you find the warehouse outside the city like I asked?"

The old man nodded. "Yes, and I made sure it was air tight as you specified. I also got the heaters, the fans, the fire pits, and the dry ice. Are we headed there now?"

"Yes." I said as I texted Light the directions to the warehouse. "And we should leave immediately."

"Of course. I'll go get the car ready."

With that he went outside, making sure we had the supplies with us. It wasn't long before I joined him and we were off to the warehouse.

It wasn't a far trip and when we'd arrived we got right to work with getting the supplies in the warehouse. After this was done, it was purely up to Light and myself to do the rest.

Speaking of the brunette, he arrived twenty minutes after we did and was stunned to see all the supplies I'd brought. All he'd brought with him was his bag with notepads and pens.

"Wow, you really commit!" He exclaimed.

I strode up to speak with him and introduce him to Wammy.

"Light, this is my guardian, Wammy. He's the one that helped me move all this here. But after this, we're on our own."

"Understood," he replied, handing me a notebook. "We'll need to record every hour we spend with this project. Plus we'll have to see if there's a way we can make the cloud bigger – if at all – and see if we might get some weather coming from it."

"Then let's get started." I said as I showed him over to the heaters and fans. "First off, we have to create a damp environment in this airtight housing. How we do that is we have some snow from outside and we melt it slowly and spatially. I'll leave you in charge of the temperatures while I spread the snow along the ground. Remember, it needs to be absolutely humid in here."

"Got it." He said as he went off to do his job and I left to do mine.

I grabbed as much snow from outside the warehouse and soon spread it along the floor. Considering this warehouse was abandoned, I doubted anyone would care that we turned it into a house for a cloud. Light did excellently with spacing out the heaters so that the heat would be even throughout the warehouse. The fans would come later, along with the dry ice.

"What are the chances that this will work!?" Light called to me over the heaters.

"Under forty percent, but those aren't bad odds!"

When the place was thoroughly heated, and we no longer needed to wear our winter clothes, we changed the temperature to a slow building heat that would make the room more Mediterranean and humid. After the humidity rose to perfect levels, then came the hard part. But we had some time to write down our first hour of work in our notebooks.

After that was done, came the waiting. And that in itself seemed to take forever.

Thankfully, Wammy had brought us some snacks and drinks while we waited for the perfect temperature.

While we waited, I asked Light more questions about him now that he was more willing to answer me.

"So why is your father so strict with you and what you're learning? This doesn't seem quite right."

He merely shrugged. "He just is. He's always wanted me to have a good life and grow up having a good family and wife. I suppose he thought some things that I was learning didn't need to be learned. But I suppose he was wrong."

"And how about the book I loaned you?"

He seemed vaguely interested in this. "Actually, you were correct. Reading War and Peace isn't that difficult in English since I already know the words basically. So, I'm not far off from learning to read and write in English."

"Good. You'll need that skill. I guarantee you."

Light then lay down on the floor and sighed contently. "Alright, now it's your turn to answer a few questions."

I hummed. "Fire away."

He took a moment to think of a good question. "Alright. So where did you learn to speak Shakespeare's plays so well? Honestly, you showed me up pretty bad yesterday so I deserve an explanation."

"It's like I told you before, Light. Shakespeare speaks from the soul. The words are everyday things we think about without knowing. Hamlet was contemplating suicide in the soliloquy you tried to do, but I don't know that you've truly contemplated it. If you have, then you must put your feelings forward as such. The roll you play is the roll you must become.

"For example." I said as I turned my head to him. "Name another of Shakespeare's works."

He took a moment to think. "Macbeth?"

"Alright, so what's the main mood of the play?"

He sat up a bit, leaning on his elbows. "Revenge? Anger? Guilt and desire? I don't really know. I just know the lines."

"Well, you're correct with all of the emotions. Lady Macbeth desires the throne, but she feels guilt over the blood on her hands. The people and soldiers are angry that their king as betrayed and killed, and that their loved ones suffer at the hands of Lord Macbeth. And revenge? They all have the need for revenge. The men, the women, the soldiers, the witches… everyone. That's why you must feel these emotions in your soul when performing them. Otherwise the play falls short."

"I suppose you are correct." The brunette commented. "But I can't feel something that I don't at the moment."

"Then bring it back from a past even that ever _made _you feel like that!" I demanded. "Believe me, it helps."

"Oh yeah?" She grinned out. "Prove it."

I took a quick moment to think before coming to the right emotion to bring up with the correct work of Shakespeare.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" I began, reciting what I'd foolishly believed many weeks ago.

"Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

"And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

"And often is his gold complexion dimmed,

"And every fair from fair sometime declines,

"By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:

"But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

"Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

"Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

"When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

"So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

Light was silenced by this. In complete awe over the words I'd spoken. If he only knew how sad they truly made me.

Finally, he spoke. "That was beautiful, Ryuzaki. Did you used to recite that to someone?"

I shook my head. "But it was recited to me once or twice."

He was kind of confused by this before he got the message.

"Oh! Oh, I'm… oh… I had no idea you were… um… uh…"

"I'm not gay, Light." I said, a bit annoyed with him. "I consider myself a pansexual, or an Asexual. I have no rhyme or reason to the ones I like. I just happen to like them, male or female."

"But, wouldn't that make you… erm… Bisexual then?" He asked, more than a little uncomfortable with the topic.

"If you really don't want to speak about this, we can stop now. I know a lot of people are uncomfortable about the topics of being anything but heterosexual…"

"No!" He defended, dialing it back a bit when he realized how loud he'd been. "I'm just… curious, is all. I just don't really understand how someone can be attracted to the same sex. I mean… isn't it weird? You know he's… well… how do I put this?"

"Light," I said as I turned to him fully. "You don't have to…"

"But I'd like to know." He interrupted. "I just find it… well… interesting? Is that the right word?"

I hugged my knees a bit tighter to my chest. "Yes, I suppose that is the correct word a straight man would use." I sighed. "If you'd like to know, then here…

"I can't tell you why I like men as much as woman, the same way you can't tell me why you like women. It's the way we're born. Just like I can't choose to be smarter than you."

"Excuse me?!" He snickered out. "You wanna take that back, or should I make you?!"

"Light, I've done nothing but prove myself to be smarter than you since the day we met."

"That was a few days ago, you barely know me!"

"Fine then. What's the eighty-fifth digit of pi?"

"Eight."

"Capital of Switzerland?"

"Bern."

"Square root of negative one?"

"Imaginary unit. Basically nonexistent."

I grinned a bit at him. "Not bad. I'll maybe consider you smart if we can get this cloud up and going."

I heard the man chuckle at me and when I looked back at him, he smiled.

"You know, you don't smile enough, Ryuzaki. It suits you."

I scoffed a bit, looking back to the ground. "Yes, but emotions can get you into trouble if you aren't careful."

There was an uncomfortable silence after this and I was beginning to feel the anxiety in my chest, wanting to go home and forget this place. But Light had offered something that made it all go away.

"Would you like to come over to dinner on Friday night next week?"

I was stunned. Why on earth was he inviting me over? Could this be a trick? What did he have to gain by doing this?

I decided to trust my gut and decline him. "N-no thank you, Light. I appreciate the offer, but…"

"Come on." He interrupted. "We're ordering pizza and watching the new Hideki Ryuga movie. Well, my sister and Misa will be watching it. The rest of us are going to silently mock them from behind the couch."

"So, it'll be you and your friends there." I made sure.

"And my mother and sister. But you can ignore Sayu. My mom make's the best sweets." He tried offering.

I scoffed playfully. "Wammy makes the best sweets."

Light scoffed back. "My mom could cook circles around your Wammy!"

I waved him off playfully. "Please, your mother knows nothing about sweets and cakes. She probably learned off of trial and error. Wammy is a masterful chef and baker."

"Well maybe you should come by and try a cake or two!" He challenged.

"Maybe I will!" I got in his face, the smile creeping up on me.

"Maybe you should!" He smiled back.

And that's when I backed off a little. The smile he wore… it reminded me of Derek. But there was something off about it. Something… I liked.

Light noticed my change in demeanor. "Ryuzaki? Is something…?"

"I'm fine." I interrupted, standing up from my spot. "I'm just going to go… change the settings of the heaters." And I walked away from him.

I didn't like the way my head was spinning from this. His smile… it as so much like Derek's it scared me. Did this mean he was like him? Or was I just seeing things? Maybe I was just missing him. Missing Derek. He couldn't have been all that bad, right? Not if he recited sonnets to me. Sonnets I remembered. Maybe Wammy was wrong about him… maybe everyone was wrong. Maybe he'd change for me. What if he _had_ changed, and that's why he went looking for me.

I held my arm where one of the bruises still was. He hadn't meant to hurt me. It was an accident… a mistake. He probably just wanted to apologize to me. That was it. That sounded most likely.

Maybe I'd call him tomorrow… make sure Wammy didn't know. That would make me feel better.

Wouldn't it?


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: Well, my first class for University is done for the day. Now I can focus writing chapters for you guys!**_

_***Note: If you see any mess ups, it's because I was typing on the bus and had no control over the bumps and screaming kids so I was not in a good frame of mind. But the first half was written last night so... half of it might be better than the other. XD**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

One week had gone by and there was still no change to our project. In order to get this thing to work we had to constantly keep changing the pressure in the warehouse every day after school. Ryuzaki and I had taken turns each day and recorded what we found on our days. Weekends we worked on it together. I had to say, though, even if it wasn't initially working it was still better than staying at home and doing virtually nothing. The company wasn't all that bad either.

During the first week of our project Ryuzaki became more… friendly. He wasn't like Teri or Tamlen who would punch me to show their affection, or Misa and Takada who wouldn't stay off my arms for the life of me. And Mikami? Well… he wasn't much of a show off when it came to his feelings, but he at least let you know that he liked you. But Ryuzaki was completely different in showing his emotions.

Like for example, sharing his sweets with me when we were waiting for the temperatures to rise and fall. That and the fact that he'd stopped insulting me whenever we met. There was the snarky attitude a few times, and more than once he was sarcastic, but it was all in a playful matter. It actually made me smile more times than not.

On the way to the warehouse that day, we'd gone together to check up on the temperatures and pressure. We had to be careful of the doors or the pressure would be released and we'd have to start all over again. We were also monitoring the room with a twenty-four hour camera that was saving to Ryuzaki's laptop. If this worked, we'd speed up the video to make it so we could see the cloud form in mere seconds.

With it being humid in the warehouse we just dropped our stuff by the door and went to check on the situation.

I got a little discouraged when I couldn't see anything until Ryuzaki pointed up towards the ceiling.

Sure as hell…

"I can't believe it!" I said excitedly. "We made a cloud!"

Sure, it was tiny and almost impossible to see, but it was there. So now we had to build it up.

"Go get some more snow outside." He commanded, heading towards the heaters. "We need to make it larger, and he only way to do that is more moisture."

"Got it!" I said happily running outside to grab a bucket of snow.

Once we were done setting the temperatures once again and laying out the foundation to make the cloud bigger, we sat back to take in our accomplishment.

"I can't believe this!" I exclaimed. "I thought for sure this wouldn't work!"

"If one can create a cloud in a bottle," Ryuzaki began, "then why not in a warehouse?"

"It's still impressive!" I added, still staring at the cloud.

"Yes, I suppose so. But this means we'll have to work extra hard to make sure it stays a cloud and not turn to mist. By the beginning of spring break, it should be a full sized cloud in no time, and we can document then release it. After that I'll work on the video for all this."

I blinked before turning to him. "You know, you don't have to do all of this work. I'd be happy to edit the video for the project. You could take a break and get some sleep."

He hummed at this. "Sleep would be nice, but I'm afraid it's a lost cause. I don't sleep very often, Light. I'm an insomniac with no ways of stopping that."

I found this quite interesting. "But, couldn't you take some pills or something to make you fall asleep."

"I've tried to in the past, but I didn't like the way they made me feel. I began to have hallucinations, and my body twitched at almost everything. I like to remain calm and decisive, not scared and unsure."

I rested my head on my hand now. "So what's the longest you've stayed awake?"

"In complete total, no naps or rests, I believe three weeks. Maybe four."

"That's almost an entire month!" I exclaimed. "Ryuzaki, that isn't healthy!"

"Maybe not to someone as normal as you, but I'm quite used to it. In fact, I prefer to stay awake. My days are much longer than yours, and I have more free time. I like to watch the world go by and see things that others don't. I find the joy in not being able to sleep instead of finding the negatives with it. To others no sleep is a nuisance, but to me it is a relaxing time. Where there is no one awake to disturb the thoughts that float into your mind, and to just be at peace in the world. And that's why I don't force sleep onto myself. I let it happen when it does. The few naps and rests I take are purely because Wammy wants me to rest. And it's incredibly hard to argue with your parental figure."

I smiled at the way he looked at his insomnia. Not a burden… but a blessing.

I then looked away from him and back at the cloud. "You still haven't told me your answer."

"Hmm? To what, might I ask?"

I turned back to him slightly. "About hanging out with us at my place. I know it's not really your scene, but I promise you that it'll be alright. I'll even get you some candy from one of my favourite stores." I tried to sweeten the deal.

Pun not intended.

He grinned a bit at me and I couldn't help but smile back. It was so rare to see him smile in any sort of way, that any time he did happen to grin or even show any happiness I always smiled back. It was weird, but there were days that I so desperately wanted to see him smile. It was… well… adorable at times. And I liked that.

It was odd to think someone I barely knew could affect me in that way.

He took a moment to think about it. "What kind of candy are we talking, here?"

I chuckled at him. "I'll take you to it and you can pick out what you want. I warn you, it's a bit of a tourist trap. I used to go there all the time as a kid until tourist's found it. But, for you, I'll suffer."

"Ah, but you are so very kind, Light!" He said sarcastically.

I chuckled again before standing up. "Come on. Let's go before everyone arrives at my place. We can get your snacks then get to my place." I then realized my sister was home by now. "And please ignore Sayu. She might speak while you're there, and most of it should be ignored to the fullest extent."

"This is your sister, correct?" He asked.

"Yes… though I'm too sure she's a demon spawn of another world who _claims_ to be my sister."

He scoffed at me. "You want demon spawn? Come to England meet my younger brother's Matt and Mello."

This time, I scoffed at him. "Please. Sayu is way worse than any little boy. She's the person who locks you in a closet for hours on end with another person until you kiss them. How do I know? She did it to Tamlen and Mikami thinking they were a good couple together."

He merely stared at me. "Mello and Matt stole a penguin from the zoo to keep as a pet."

I was dumbstruck. "Okay, first of all… how? Second… you win."

He shrugged as he stood up. "I took my eyes off them for two seconds, lost them for two minutes, didn't find the penguin until a week later."

I hid my smile from him. "I know it isn't funny, but props to them for actually stealing a penguin from the zoo and keeping it out of sight for a week."

"If you ever meet them, don't encourage it. Wammy gave me hell for complimenting there skills."

"I think they deserve it."

"They did! But apparently stealing penguins from the zoo is, in fact, illegal."

I walked over to the door, Ryuzaki following close behind, and grabbed my coat. "It's people and kids like them that cause the governments to make insane rules and laws that seem stupid."

"They made history books, that's for sure."

"I'll bet."

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><p>After the candy store, which was surprisingly tame considering the amount of tourists that are there any other day, we headed to my house to prepare for the amount of people that were going to arrive for tonight. Upon entering the house though, I noticed a familiar pair of shoes near the door and my mood drastically changed to excited.<p>

Forgetting about Ryuzaki for a moment, I ran to the kitchen to find my father eating a snack my mother had made him. He'd been gone for a few days working on a case and we hadn't seen him at all. So naturally I was a bit excited to see him again. Not to mention that some cases were more serious than others and when he didn't call or come home on time we worried a bit more than usual.

After giving me a hug he said, "Where were you? I came home and you weren't here yet."

I let go of him. "I was out with my partner to work on a project for science class."

I then remembered about Ryuzaki and ran back to go grab him and apologize for being rude. Thankfully he hadn't left out of frustration and I could properly introduce him to the family. He did seem nervous about meeting them, but then again he seemed nervous about just being in an unfamiliar house. But I knew he'd be alright.

"Sorry again about ditching you there," I apologized again, showing him to the kitchen. "But my dad wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow and I haven't seen him in a few days, so naturally I'm going to be excited about him coming home early."

"I understand, Light." He said quietly. "Matt and Mello are the same when I go off for a long time."

"Oh? Why aren't they with you here in Japan?"

He looked me in the eye. "I like to travel a lot and experience things where two nine year olds would just slow me down. Besides, the orphanage is a better place for them than out on the road with me."

"Orphanage? What do you mean by orphanage?" I stopped in my tracks to ask him.

"Light, I come from Wammys house. I'm an orphan, same as my brothers. I just adopted them as my brothers after finding them and bringing them to Wammys. Wammys itself is a school for the gifted children and orphaned. Well…" he said somberly, "it was just an orphanage before L got to it."

I was in a stunned silence. Could he really mean…?

"L? As in the world's greatest detective? He was part of your orphanage?"

He nodded. "After him, it became all about finding him a successor and making another L when he dies."

I couldn't believe my ears. Was I really getting information on where L started out?! This was like a dream come true!

"So, is L…?"

"No, the L that's out there right now is not a successor of the original. He _is_ the original and the one and only."

"But were you ever considered to be his heir? I mean, if you're from the same place…"

"He hasn't chosen yet. And I don't care to know. All those kids there deserve a better dream than being around murder and violence. I'm glad he hasn't chosen yet. I hope he never chooses. At least those kids would have a better life."

I hummed at this. "I guess you're right. But still, a chance to be the world's greatest detective!"

He merely sighed. "Can we talk about this later? It's not a topic I wish to speak about right now. And please, keep this to yourself. I'd be in enough trouble as is with L if he knew I told you about this."

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

"Fine, until later!" He promised. "We'll talk after tonight!"

He then continued to walk me to the kitchen and I shook my head at him. It amazed me still that some people still fell for the fact that I wasn't L himself. Maybe Light was just too in the moment to realize who I was, but I highly doubted he thought I was L anyway. What proof was there?

_'Oh Light, and you had so much potential in the intelligence department. Tragic.'_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: Gah! Sorry! I fell asleep while typing! (Imagine waking up like that though...)  
><strong>_

_**I just finished the chapter though, so... YAY!**_

_**I hope you enjoy, reviews much appreciated, and I look forward to seeing you all again!**_

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

Meeting Light's parents was a less nerve wracking than I thought. His mother was taken aback by me at first, no real shock there, but she warmed up to me in a matter of minutes. She was a nice lady with a lovely smile. Light's father, however, was a very… callous man. He seemed unimpressed with me from the moment Light introduced me. Although he didn't know it, however, I knew more about him than I let on.

Being L, I had to know who I was working with in the detective and police agencies. Soichiro Yagami was chief of police, clean record, perfect grades all throughout his school days and academy training. All while having a good, wholesome family. The man was living the dream most men desired.

But it didn't interest me too much.

I met Light before finding anything on Mr. Yagami, but I was smart enough to put two and two together. It didn't surprise me that Light knew about L at all. My guess was that his father told him more than enough stories by now.

How charming.

When his mother began ordering the pizza's, Light took me to the living room where his sister was anxiously awaiting the movie to come on. I wondered if she knew that she'd be waiting another hour and a half before it aired. But maybe it was just because she was a teen girl.

She took one look at us and smiled mischievously at Light.

"Ooh, am I locking you in the closet with _him_ tonight!? This ought to be good!"

Light shot back. "No, but Mikami and Tamlen are coming over again and if you leave me alone I'll let you lock them in the guest bedroom this time."

"Deal." She giggled out, turning towards me. "Hi, I'm Sayu by the way! Spawn of Satan."

"The first step is admitting it." Light commented. "I'm so proud."

I huffed a bit of laughter at this. "The difference between your sister and my brothers? She admits she's a hell spawn of Satan, they admit it and don't care."

"Ooh, brothers!?" She asked excitedly. "Any my age?"

I shook my head. "Two nine year olds, no interest in girls yet." I thought for a quick second. "Well… one eight year old. But he's taller than the other one."

She looked disappointed. "Damn. Guess I'll have to keep looking."

Light scoffed. "Yeah, good luck with that. He, if you marry a Christian, do I have permission to douse you in holy water and cleanse you before you burn his skin off?"

"If I'm a spawn from hell, wouldn't that just kill me?"

He sat beside her on the couch. "I'll take that as a yes."

I stayed standing, not really sure what to do.

Light noticed my nervousness. "Ryuzaki, you should sit down and relax. The movie isn't starting for a while yet and we still have to wait for everyone to arrive."

I shivered a bit at the uncomfortable feeling of awkwardness. "Maybe I should just leave. I'm not much of a social person and I'm afraid I won't be any fun."

I bowed to him out of respect. "Excuse me." And headed for the door.

I'd just gotten my shoes on when Light stopped me. "Ryuzaki, don't go."

He spun me around to look at him and I instantly felt the odd churning in my stomach again while looking into his eyes. Why did he remind me so much of Derek? The man was as far away from me as he could be and still I managed to find him in the eyes of other men. It just wasn't right!

Light remained calm as he spoke. "Look, I know you're a bit of an introvert, so just stay for an hour and then I'll let you leave freely, alright?"

"Why do you care, Light?" I asked in all seriousness. "What does it matter to you if I leave?"

I opened the door and went to walk away when he closed the door on me forcefully. He was about to say something more, but stopped in mid-thought. I hadn't known why though.

"Why did you flinch?" He asked calmly once again.

Had I flinched? I didn't know I had. Odd… I'm usually more aware of what I'm doing around other people. It's true that I'm even aware of my sitting and eating habits. But flinching? That didn't sound right to me.

I shook my head. "I didn't flinch. Please, just let me leave."

Before he could answer a voice came from the back of the house.

"Who's up for mocking Ryuga!?"

I turned a bit and noticed a few familiar faces from science class. The green haired teen, Tamlen, and his sister Teri, plus Misa Amane and Miss Takada with Mikami trailing behind them.

I felt constricted at this point and the buildings of anxiety hit me, so I pushed Light out of my way and made a break for the outside. I didn't care if he wanted me to stay or not. It was likely he only invited me out of pity anyway so why bother. I didn't feel like being a burden that night, and I didn't need anyone's pity.

I'd made it halfway to the gate before I felt a hand on my arm and froze. It was not a rough hand, but it made me remember all the times I'd been handled by Derek. He hadn't meant to hurt me… but that's what happened.

I remembered my phone call to him the other day. I'd just wanted to talk to him, to hear his voice, but he didn't answer. Wammy noticed my behaviour about the 'important phone call', but didn't say anything more when I'd stopped worrying about it. I'd planned to call him tonight, butt Light had dragged me to his place instead.

Somehow… I knew I owed him for it.

"Please," Light said softly, turning me around, "come back inside. Believe me when I say this, but I want you here. You always hang out by yourself and never try to make friends, so I thought I'd share mine. It won't be as bad as you think."

"Light, I already told you…"

"One hour." He offered again. "After that, I'll stop bugging you. I promise."

I took a few minutes to think about this before coming to a conclusion. In the end, I had to do what was best for me.

"A half hour, and I get all the sweets you bought for me. No sharing."

He grinned at me. "_One_ hour, and you can keep the candy, plus I'll get my mom to make us some sweets just for the two of us. Believe me, you'll make everyone jealous."

I groaned a bit before nodding. "Fine… deal."

He led me back inside and I felt my chest tighten a bit at this. Light reminded me so much of Derek it was uncanny. But unlike him, Light was soft spoken with me, not to mention anytime I looked down he still made sure that I looked him in the eye when we spoke. Derek was… not a kind man. Not when he was angry. So if Light was so much like Derek… would he be as physical when _he_ was angry? I didn't exactly want to know.

Once inside he brought me back to the living room and all eyes were on me. I knew what they were all thinking, too. Why was he here? Why did Light invite _him_? What a freak! If they weren't thinking this… is was much worse.

There was silence for a few moments before Sayu giggled. "Welcome back! You're just in time to help me stuff Mikami in the guest room with Tamlen!"

The attention was shifted over to the green haired teen. "No way, you little offspring of Satan!"

"Yeah, we're not going anywhere!" Mikami defended.

"Well, it's either you two in a bedroom, or Light and Ryuzaki in the closet! And you all know one of those is happening!"

I sighed at this. "If I give you a hundred dollars, will you keep me and Light out of your satanic and utterly crazy thoughts?"

She blinked. "Sure!"

I forked over the money no problem. I then smiled at the girl. "I'll give you an extra fifty if you can get them in the bedroom before an hour passes."

She smiled deviously at the two men and they backed away from her. "Challenge accepted."

I sat down on the floor next to Light, Teri shaking her head at me. "The power of money corrupts a young fifteen year old in ways you can't understand, Ryuzaki. She'll do anything for that cash."

I scoffed a bit. "If only it were that easy with my brothers."

"They don't take bribes?" She asked.

"No, they take bribes." I clarified. "But only the one's that truly benefit them. For instance, I'll offer them a hundred dollars, and their counter offer is either a gaming device or food item, plus the money, and a week off from punishment. It's a real haggle with them… and they usually win."

"I can only imagine the haggle with the penguin." Light commented.

"No haggling." I answered. "I simply said penguin or life sentence and they gave it up pretty easily."

"I'm sorry, penguin?" Tamlen questioned.

I found the bag of sweets Light bought for me and popped a candy into my mouth as the brunette answered for me.

"His brothers stole a penguin from the zoo."

I hummed. "I think they were trying to one up me. It was a nice try, but I think I won."

Now Light was perplexed. "Win? What did you win? What are you talking about?"

I finished the candy I was chewing on and looked at him. "When I was eleven I stole a panda cub from the zoo."

The room went silent for a second before Tamlen smiled at me with glee.

"Dude!" He exclaimed. "I wanna party with your family!"

"Why, in god's name, would you steal a panda cub?" Light asked incredulously.

I shrugged. "Because he looked cuddly and I thought he looked like me. You know," I pointed to the bags under my eyes, "pale, dark around the eyes, and adorable." I faked a large smile at the brunette.

The blonde in the room, Misa, squealed at me before hugging me close. I wasn't quite comfortable with this… but I guess it's how she showed affection.

"Aww, Ryuzaki!" She squealed again, pulling back. "I didn't notice this before, but you DO look like a cuddly panda bear!"

Light held up his hands. "Wait a minute here, we're off topic!" He turned to me. "Ryuzaki… you STOLE a panda bear! HOW did you do this? There is no way you could have gotten past security with a live bear! A penguin you can hide pretty easily, but a BEAR!?"

I pried Misa's hands off me and she went back to her seat on the floor. "Light, I had a bear with me. I was virtually untouchable."

"YOU STOLE A BEAR!" He exclaimed loudly. "No sane person does that!"

"There is a fine line between genius and insanity…" I started. "I have erased this line."

He crossed his arms. "You stole that from somewhere."

I scoffed, popping more candy into my mouth. "Can't prove it."

"I have the internet…"

"…and I have a rock from Zürich."

He blinked at my answer. "Excuse me?"

I swallowed the candy. "I'm sorry, I thought we were talking about things that are completely unhelpful to you."

Unbelievably, I managed to make everyone snicker in the room. Teri seemed the most amused.

"Well, Light, looks like you met your match!"

The brunette rolled his eyes at her. "It's not an actual debate! His mind is just snarky and full of sass some days."

I actually huffed a laugh at this. "I don't think we hang out enough because I am always sassy, Yagami. If you haven't figured that out yet, you've not paid enough attention to me."

"Was there a hint of sarcasm there, or were you just being 'sassy'?"

I grinned a bit, looking in the candy bag for something to eat. "Now he's gettin' it."

Takada and Misa were giggling along with Sayu at the two of us while Teri just smiled.

"You know, you two have a cute bro-mance going on here!" She said, a hint of a snicker in her voice. "Considering the rocky start."

Tamlen laughed then. "Yeah! Didn't you trip him, Ryuzaki!? Man was Light _fuming_ the day after that! I thought his eyes were going to freeze me they were so icy!"

I semi-giggled at this. "I did, and I have no regrets."

Light sighed. "At least you apologized."

"Half-heartedly." I added.

Misa squealed again, making me cringe. "You two are so cute together!"

I choked on a piece of candy the moment she said that. Light just blushed profusely, going silent.

Once I stopped coughing, I turned to Misa. "Please, don't say that again. Light and I are just partners for science, barely even friends."

The brunette pointed to me. "What he said."

Teri rolled her eyes. "We're just kidding guys. Don't worry."

"I'm not!" Sayu exclaimed. "Kiss him Light! Be happy with your true self!"

I blinked, turning to Light. "You grab her legs, I'll get the arms, and together we throw her into a snowbank." I spoke softly to him.

"Agreed."

We both looked at her with cheeky grins and before she started to run from us. We didn't run after her though, we simply made to look like we were going after her and once she was gone and off the couch, we stole her seat. She'd come back down eventually though.

Whether or not we threw her in the snowbank was to be decided later on.


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: And now... I slumber.  
><strong>_

_**Goodnight, enjoy the chapter, drop a review or two, eat, sleep, drink, be merry, play golf, light stuff on fire and blame your younger brother/sister/cousin, and don't forget to hug a dinosaur! Because, as we all know, dinosaurs have feelings too!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

Our cloud kept growing the more effort we put into taking care of it. In a sense, Ryuzaki and I were a great team when it came to equal work. We both shared in the hard labour, we both documented our shares of the work, split everything equally in the weeks. We worked well together.

And the more time I spent with him, the more I got to know him.

And the more we got to know each other, the more we hung around each other.

Which meant the more we hung out, the more time he spent with my friends…

With our friends.

It took a few days, barely, but everyone was enjoying his company now in school. We all usually sat together, we hung out at my place a few times, and even my sister wanted to hang around him. I couldn't explain it, but we all just… liked him.

But above all else… I liked him.

I was never really one for making new friends. In fact Mikami and Takada were still relatively new and so I was still a little mistrustful of them. But with Ryuzaki… things were different.

Whenever I wasn't by his side I felt lonely, and whenever we were together I never wanted to leave his company. There was something about him that I liked that I had no knowledge of. But every time I looked at him, my chest tightened and my stomach flipped. I'd never felt this with anyone else in my life, but I didn't want to feel it with anyone else.

But… why? What was it I was feeling?

I contemplated this while Miss Tycho continued on with her Drama lesson. I hadn't known what we were doing until I saw everyone get up for some reason.

I followed Ryuzaki who had been paying attention.

"So what are we doing?" I whispered.

He shrugged. "She said something about dancing."

I shuddered at this. I was not in the mood to dance with anyone today. Especially people from my fan base around school. Lord only knows Misa and Takada were going to start scrapping over who danced with me today.

I sighed to myself. "Just what I needed. Let's just hope this is interpretive dance."

"Wrong, Mr. Yagami!" Miss Tycho announced. "I'm going to be asking all of you to do the Waltz."

I groaned as I hesitantly looked over to Misa and Takada who were eyeing me happily. I was beginning to think about making a run for it when the teacher started giggling.

"But you won't be dancing under any normal circumstances!" She hopped over to her chair and sat down, smiling happily. "As a trust exercise, I want the girls to pair with girls, and the boys with boys!"

There was a lot of argument to this from the male side until Tycho gave her reason.

"Men, if you cannot trust each other to Waltz, then you cannot trust each other to do a scene together. Remember, women were once not allowed to perform in plays. Everything was done by men. And yes, this included love scenes. I'm being generous here and only making you dance. Surely you can leave your pride at the door for one dance."

I felt my stomach flip at this, not from nervousness… but excitement. My immediate partner was Ryuzaki, considering I really had no one else at the moment, but the moment I realized we'd be dancing a waltz together… I froze.

I would be dancing with Ryuzaki?

My stomach flipped again, but this time in defiance. "Wait a minute, what?!"

The dark haired man looked at me as we faced each other to dance. "What is it, Light? Have you never danced before?"

I blinked. "There's that… and the fact I have to dance with another male!"

"You seemed alright with it when Miss Psycho announced it."

I almost smiled at the nickname but realized I was angry. "Ryuzaki, it isn't correct. Males dancing with other males… it's just weird!"

I looked around the room and could only see a few females that weren't awkward about this. Everyone else was either distancing themselves, or trying to find a way out of dancing. I could understand their pain. Although… it's not like my partner was terrible. I just really didn't want to dance with a man.

Ryuzaki didn't seem fazed. "Light, in the days of old some men had to dance with other men to practice their ballroom dancing. This is no different. I agree with Tycho in making us dance in an unprecedented way. Trust is a major issue in the world on stage. If you cannot trust your partner, nor rely on them to catch you when you fall or listen to you, then the show falls flat."

He opened his arms in Waltz position. "Let us begin, Light. If you would care to have this dance."

"Ryuzaki…"

"Do you want to fail, purely because you don't want to dance with another male? Is this really what you want on your report card? Or will you man up, take position, and dance?"

I took a few moments to take in what he said. "How are you so nonchalant about this?"

He shrugged at me. "I've danced with men before. I see no reason why this is an issue. If you would like, I'll take up the female position and you may lead."

The music began to play and everyone shifted awkwardly into an embrace to dance. None of which looked the least bit proper.

I sighed again and took his hand, getting into waltz position. "Let's just get this over with."

"Light, you are not going to dance with that sort of attitude. Man or woman, you must act as though you are enjoying this dance no matter what. And furthermore," he said as he moved my hand from his arm to his waist, "a waltz requires the correct hand placement at all times."

I blinked at him in surprise. "How do you know all this?"

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I'm from England, Light. This was taught to me when I was eight! That and manners, but I choose to ignore those lessons unless absolutely necessary."

He stood up a bit straighter, a change from his usual hunched form, and relaxed his body.

"The waltz has this simple tempo in mind: One, two, three – one, two, three – one, two, three. I'll lead to start, but once you get the hang of it yourself, you shall lead. Ready?"

I shivered a bit. "I… suppose?"

He started off the dance at the right moment where the music looped and I instantly fumbled a bit. More than once I tripped over my own feet so I constantly looked down to make sure I wasn't messing up. This didn't fit with Ryuzaki's lesson, though.

"Light, keep your eyes on mine and not your feet."

I looked up when he said that…

And got lost in his eyes.

Something about them was… different than beforehand. They seemed full of life and amusement. And that's when I noticed the slight smile on his face. It was like I was truly seeing Ryuzaki for the first time in my life. The part of him that had fun and didn't worry.

He took a patient breath as he stopped us. "Light, calm your mind, and stop thinking about screwing up. Relax the body and follow my lead."

I did as told and stopped worrying about making a fool of myself. "Alright… I trust you."

He took a breath and began the dance again, but this time I kept my eyes focused on his. And in the moments we danced together, I couldn't remember why I'd denied this from happening. There was just something about the way his hand fit into mine, how we managed to move in sync with each other. It was certainly different from all the other times I had to dance in this class. With Misa she had been hugging me the entire time and we barely danced at all, and with Takada or the others I was just terrible at dancing in general with them.

But Ryuzaki…

Maybe I was just losing my mind. Maybe I didn't know any better. But… I liked dancing with him. He knew how to work in sync with me, how to make me better at working on the art of dance. With him… it felt right.

I had been so enraptured by all the thoughts and emotions, I hadn't noticed when I started leading the dance until Ryuzaki smiled at me.

"Well, now." He piped up. "You waltz better than I thought you would."

I noticed the change in the dance and smiled back. "I suppose I'm not as terrible as I thought."

The music ended and everyone broke apart right away. Everyone but us. We broke apart slowly, and almost painfully. To be honest with myself… I'd wanted the music to continue on forever.

But… why?

The bell rang and I immediately realized we'd been waltzing for close to forty-five minutes. There was no way that could have been true. It was way too short to have been that long.

Ryuzaki didn't seem fazed. "Come on, Light. We gotta check on our project. We only have one more week to complete it before spring break."

I shook my head to relieve the fuzziness. "Yeah… I'll, uh… I'll meet you at the doors."

He nodded and left the drama room. As I was grabbing my stuff I felt a hand on my shoulder that made me jump a bit. When I looked back, it was Teri.

"Light," she said quietly, "is there anything you want to talk about? You know… about _him_?"

"What's there to talk about?" I lied. "It's Ryuzaki. There's not much to him than that."

"Don't lie to me, Light, I saw the way you were looking at him!" She tried.

I shook my head. "No, you don't know what you're talking about. We're friends… science partners. Nothing more."

She sighed heavily. "Light, if you keep to your bubble, you are never going to experience anything good for you. Ryuzaki isn't the most perfect person in the world itself… but he might just be enough in your world."

She soon left the room after that, knowing I wasn't in the mood to listen to her. But… in a way… she was correct. Ryuzaki made me feel things that no one else did. I was happy with him, genuinely happy. But I'd only known him for a few short weeks. What could be there that was so perfect for me? What if I was just seeing things though, and I really didn't have a connection with him? Was there really something there?

Or was I losing it.

My whole life I had been groomed for the perfect life of either a rich bachelor, or perfect husband to a wife and perfect dad to kids. My father made sure I was groomed to perfection… and now I was being tainted.

Maybe I just needed to get away from him. To get away from Ryuzaki. Go on a date with a female and realize what I was without him. I should do that…

And I will.

I was a popular guy among very popular girls. Getting a date would be no problem.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: If you look REALLY closely, you can find the small quote I took from L in the series...  
><strong>_

_**...**_

_**JK, it's totally easy to find! You'll see it!**_

_**I hope you all enjoy, reviews welcomed, and keep being awesome my friends!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

Did this girl ever just SHUT UP!?

We'd been at this diner for close to an hour and all she had done was talk about was her friends while texting others. I don't even believe she looked up once from her phone! Honestly did she have anything else to talk about other than her friends? I needed more variety than this, I needed to talk about subjects like pressing matters around the world, or school, or even the _weather_ would be better than this! But no… I was stuck in a perpetual loop of crazy with this girl.

Her name was Mimi. It was short for something I'd forgotten. The only reason I didn't choose Misa or Takada was so neither had a win over the other. But, at this point, I'd take their crazy over _her_ crazy right about now.

I rubbed my temple as she kept talking… looking down at her phone the entire time. "…and I just know Tara's going to be so jealous of me! You know she's wanted to date you since ninth grade, right?! Creepy, I know! But that one time you visited Teri and Tamlen, EVERYONE was talking about you! Especially Misa! Ooh! We should take a picture together and send it to her! She'd be SO jealous, she might even cry!"

I shivered a bit from her. Not only could she not stop talking, but apparently she was a bitch. And I only saved that word for the real ones that deserved it.

As she kept talking and texting, I looked around the diner. This was sort of a last minute date so I just picked a place and Mimi agreed to it. Not that she looked at the place or anything. Or the menu… or the drink list…

This was just terrible.

Finally realizing my mistake, I looked out the window and saw an opportunity to get out of there.

Ryuzaki was walking home, not realizing he was passing the diner I was in. I decided now would be my best opportunity to leave, so I slowly slinked out of the booth we were in, silently stepped my way out of her line of sight, the quickly paid for my one drink and hurried to find Ryuzaki. At the moment, I hadn't cared that I wanted to be distant from the man. I just knew he carried an intelligent conversation and didn't look at his phone while he talked. Next time I picked a date, it wouldn't be with someone so absolutely insane.

"Ryuzaki!" I called after seeing him.

He turned around and stopped for me as I ran to him. When I'd stopped in front of him I ws huffing and in pain from the cold air.

Once I caught my breath, I smiled. "I am so glad… I found you."

He cocked an eyebrow. "I thought you were on a date with some girl." He replied.

I shook my head. "I hardly consider _that_ a date. She wouldn't get off her phone, she wouldn't speak about anything but her friends, I think I lost a few IQ points with her! Please, if you care about me as a friend, you will have an in depth conversation with me so that I may revive the lost brain cells!"

He was quiet for the longest time. I was beginning to think he might not want me around until I heard a chuckle come from him.'

"Alright." The man said happily. But did you at least tell your date that you left?"

"Hold on." I replied as I took out my phone and texted her that I had left nearly ten minutes ago. "There. She should get it soon."

"Then I suggest we find a place where she can't find you and demand why you left. Women are quite caddy and defensive if need be it."

I looked back at the diner, then to him. "Yeah, you might be right. Let's go!"

We ended up running off and out of sight at that point. I didn't want to deal with a crying girl that night, especially one that was so rude. So I led the way to a coffee shop I knew about that Ryuzaki might like. It was better than being out in the cold, and I actually wanted to enjoy my time out tonight.

No matter who it was with.

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

The coffee shop we went to, courtesy of Light, was quiet and warm. It was a nice place and didn't have your typical loud teenagers only there to have a good time. You were there simply because you wanted to be, you were with a friend… or on a date.

I shook those thoughts away. Light and I were absolutely _not_ on a date. I knew he liked women and not men, yet still I tortured myself with the thought that just _maybe_ he'd want to try something new.

I'd begun to realize I was having feelings for Light, as much as I hated the thought of it. Not the thought of _being_ with Light, but rather… the thought of _never_ being with him. He had so many others to choose from, so many people in his fan base to love and who loved him, why would he choose me? Someone he just barely met and who looks and acts the way I do? I'd wanted to be just a bit normal for him, to sit like a regular person, to eat regular things, and to have a regular attitude. But I wasn't normal… and I hated that more than anything.

It was one of the reasons I got in touch with Derek. He'd been so happy that I called him, begging me for a second chance. And… I gave him one. But we'd start again after I came home from Japan, once I was done with work. So, losing Light wasn't all that painful anymore. At least I had someone waiting for me when I went home.

So now I could settle with the fact that Light and I were not going to be together. I already had someone.

Someone who loved me.

We sat down at a booth and Light's demand for an intelligent conversation was accepted.

"So what would you like to talk about, Light?" I asked.

He seemed to relax at this happily. "How about that topic of L you said we'd get back to?"

I hummed at this, questioning whether or not this was a good idea. "Light, before we get to that topic, I would first like to know what your idea of justice is. That, and why you choose to follow L so blindly when you have no idea what he is or what his methods are."

Light merely looked down at the table, thinking about how he should answer this. "Ryuzaki, as a child I bullied mercilessly by other kids because I was different. I liked to read books at a tenth grade level when I was only eight. I was bumped up again and again until I was doing high school tests in fifth grade. I had no one but my closest friends Teri and Tamlen, and even then they were picked on for even knowing me. I thought it wasn't fair, that there was no justice.

"But then… L just kind of appeared. It started when my father came home telling us that this detective solved a cold case in less than two days. Then another… and another… and suddenly it was like justice was actually being done. Maybe not to everyone, but it gave me the hope to believe things could change for the better.

"You asked me what justice is… and I can't honestly tell you. I just know it when I see it. When I see that innocent people, ones who are suffering, get the integrity they deserve, the happiness and positivity… I just know they've gotten the justice that was needed."

"Light, that is a very childish way of looking at things." I said as our drinks were placed in front of us. After stirring mine for a bit, I smiled at him. "And you think almost the same way that L does."

He blinked in surprise at this. "Do I?"

I nodded, sipping my drink. "Although I really shouldn't be telling you any of this, L is quite childish himself. He has a strong sense of justice, but how he began was merely an accident. He saw a case he wanted to solve and he solved it on his own. After he began doing this for fun, his guardian began to invest on making him one of the best detectives in the world. Better than Eraldo Coil, or even Deneuve. He seeks to right wrongs but purely only to the ones that most interest him, or he's offered a high amount of cash. His guardian, Watari, is the only one who knows his true face. The only one by his side."

He nodded at this. "But, haven't _you_ seen his true face?"

I thought about this before answering with a shake of my head. "No, I don't believe I have. L has many faces in this world. He could be anyone." I sunk into myself a bit. "It's rather cowardly of him."

"I wouldn't say that. I mean, a lot of people might want to kill him for things, so why wouldn't he…"

"Light, once again you are speaking like a child." I answered him. "L has many enemies, this is true, but if he really cared about justice more than anyone, don't you think he'd allow the ones he hurt to impose justice upon him?"

Light was quiet at this. "I… I haven't thought about it like that."

"And neither has he." I said morbidly. "He just hides away and lets others suffer. It's why I have such disdain for him." I kept my eyes on my tea as I began stirring it, losing myself in the motion. "He's so cowardly, so out of tune with the world. So many people think he's a good thing, but the same amount of people hate him too you know.

"I personally believe he is a monster."

The brunette seemed confused by this accusation. "What do you mean by that, Ryuzaki?"

I continued stirring the tea. "There are many types of monsters that scare me, Light. Monsters who cause trouble without showing themselves, monsters who abduct children, monsters who devour dreams, monsters who suck blood... and then, monsters who tell nothing but lies. Lying monsters are a real nuisance. They are much more cunning than others. They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart; they eat even though they've never experienced hunger; they study even though they have no interest in academics…" I paused for a slight moment. "They seek friendship even though they do not know how to love." I stopped stirring my tea to look Light in the eye. "If L were to encounter such monsters, he would likely be eaten by them... because in truth, he is that monster."

Light was silenced by my small soliloquy. He seemed to understand what I was trying to get at, but was more than willing to defend L's name.

"I think you're wrong, Ryuzaki."

"Oh? How so?"

Light took a few sips of his coffee before answering. "Although L does lie about who he is and what he is, he never lies about wanting to find the truth. You said it yourself, if a case interests him then he jumps to the occasion to look into it. A monster would demand he be paid in those circumstances, no matter the feelings of the people he's trying to help. Plus, L never says he's in this purely for himself. He's in this for the justice as much as he is for the thrill. And honestly, I can't believe he would be a monster if he's willing to go through so much to find the truth and end the suffering of others. Maybe there are times he is selfish… but we all are at some points in time. Is this a crime? To be selfish? No. It's all about how you act when it comes to your selfishness. And L uses his own selfishness to help others as well."

For the first time in my life, I was dumbstruck by what someone else had said. I'd never known anyone who was able to counter my argument. I'd always been right, no matter what… but Light…

I looked away from him, then. Not wanting to fall for him any more than I already was. I loved the way he was able to counter me, that he had the same mindset, and that we shared so much in common. But… I also hated it. I hated it because I knew he didn't see what I was seeing. The attraction… the common interests… he didn't see it. And it made me sad. If it wasn't for Derek…

I suddenly got a phone call to my emergency phone and I answered it almost immediately. "What is it Wammy?"

_"L, there's an emergency at the Wammy house! It's been taken care of, but I need you home right now! I believe there's something you need to tell me."_

I felt my heart sink to my stomach. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

I hung up my phone and slid out of the booth as quickly as I could. "I have to go home, Light. There's an emergency."

He stood up as well. "If you need me to come with you…"

"No." I said as I left some money on the table for both of our drinks. "This isn't something you need to hear."

"Is it about L?" He asked worriedly.

I took a quick moment to think about it. "Yes, but it has nothing to do with you. I'm sorry, we'll have to talk later."

I hurried out of the coffee shop and ran like hell to get home. I knew exactly what happened… I didn't need to be told.

* * *

><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

I sat back into my seat, feeling alone. I hadn't known why I felt so alone until I looked at the half empty cup of tea in front of me.

Ryuzaki had a way of making me speak my mind and find the facts in everything. And the way he spoke about L… it was passionate, even if it was in a negative way. It was quite honestly the first time I'd ever felt connected with somebody. Like I could talk to him about anything and he'd listen and debate with me. He was smart, but brooding, humorous, but stern. And his smile… it just lit up my day. Why couldn't anyone else make me feel this way?

I leaned my head on my hands, thinking about his emergency. I'd hoped everything was alright with him. If he had to leave Japan, though…

I didn't like thinking about that. No, he'd be in school tomorrow morning. We'd meet at his locker like we did every day then talk about our project. Maybe more if any other topic came up. I had to remember that.

Why was I feeling like this?


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: More chapters to come today, so be ready!  
><strong>_

_**Thank you all to my followers for the lovely feedback, and I hope you all enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

"How could you lie to me, L?" Wammy demanded. "I told you to keep away from Derek, I told you he'd end up hurting you in a way you could never take back! Because of your absolute foolishness Mello is in the hospital!"

"I'm sorry." I replied quietly. "I didn't know he'd do any of this…"

"Yes, you did." He reminded me. "Because he's done so in the past and now it's affecting your loved ones! Maybe Mello shouldn't have stood up to him, but the fact that he defended you – a ten year old boy defending an adult, I might add – should tell you how much you don't need him."

I'd never seen Wammy more upset with me. I admit there were times he was stern, but he never reprimanded me like this. He was always kind to me, no matter what. But as soon as Derek came back…

He sighed heavily. "You won't have any more contact with Derek, L. Mostly because he's been taken in and might serve a few years in prison for what he did to Mello."

"How is he, by the way?" I asked, truly upset over the blonde being hospitalized.

Wammy took a breath and calmed down. "Mello is fine. A fractured collarbone will take a few weeks to heal, but it's the trauma I'm afraid of for him."

"I wish it'd been me." I said morbidly, hiding my face in my knees as I sat. "It should have been me."

"No, it shouldn't have been anyone!" Wammy started up again. "When Derek was abusing you the way he did, you said nothing to us! You hid it away and allowed yourself to be beaten and used by him on a daily basis. What I want to know is why. Why would you let him do this to you? Why would you let him back into your life knowing he could hurt someone you care about?"

I hugged myself as tightly as I could. "I don't know."

"L, talk to me." He demanded again. "Obviously you feel as though Derek was something to you, and so…"

My phone rang at that instant and I answered it right away not caring to look at my caller I.D. Wammy was not pleased.

"Yes?"

_"Ryu! Oh my god, what a relief!"_

I knew the voice instantly. "Derek?"

Wammy went to grab my phone, but I dodged him. "What's going on? You went back to the orphanage?! I told you I was in Japan!"

_"I went to move my stuff back in, but that little blonde girl got in my way! Listen, just… bail me out or something! Use your connections to get me out of this mess and we can be together!"_

"You sent Mello to the hospital!" I yelled at him, finding a shred of confidence in my being. "What did you do to him!?"

_"Hey! Don't you DARE speak to me that way! If you've forgotten, it's ME that calls the shots here! NOW COME GET ME!"_

"You'd better tell me right FUCKING now what you did to Mello, or I swear I will castrate you and shove your balls so far down your throat you'll be pissing them out by morning! WHAT HAPPENED!?"

There was silence over the phone, and in the room. Wammy couldn't believe my attitude towards him at the moment. I'd bet this was something he'd dreamed I'd say to him at some point.

Derek finally spoke. _"Like I said, he got in my way…"_

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

He grumbled a bit. _"When he jumped on my back I picked him up by the throat and threw him across the room. He landed into a shelf and that old man Roger Tasered me. I dropped like a sack of bricks and after he cuffed me that little red headed kid kicked my head."_

For the first time in a long time, I was furious. Everything he told me… how he'd done that to one of my successors… to my brother… it made me want to burst with anger.

_"Look, babe…"_

"If I find you anywhere _near_ my home again… if something ever happens to Matt or Mello… I will find you… and I will make you suffer a slow and agonizing death. Believe me, I have this power, and I have the power to make sure you are repeatedly raped in that prison for the rest of your life. And if it wasn't for my current case, I'd happily make sure you never see the light of day again." I could just feel the fear emanating from the phone now. "And one more thing, Derek…"

I heard him swallow audibly. _ "Yes?"_

My nostrils flared. "Stay out of my life."

I hung up on him without waiting for an answer. When I turned to Wammy, he was smiling proudly.

"Not the confrontation I'd wanted you to have with him. But better than nothing."

I put the phone down and hurried into a hug with him. "I'm sorry, Wammy. I didn't know what I was thinking. I just… I thought I needed him."

"Why would you think that?" He asked me softly. "After everything he's done to you? The bruises, the mental abuse, the demands… how could you possibly think you needed any of that? You have so much more and deserve so much better."

Although I did not like showing emotion to anyone most times, Wammy was my one exception. Him I could cry to.

The tears came flowing down. "I just want to be loved, Wammy. Not like the way you and the boys love me. I want a partner, someone I can share my life with and be happy."

"But you weren't happy." He reminded me. "You just believed you were because he told you. And now look at the mess that's happened."

I nodded. "I know… but…" I couldn't find the words.

"But what, my son?"

More tears. "But it's not fair." I spoke my mind. "Why are others happy when I'm miserable? Why can others have someone and I can't? Why can't someone love me?!"

He hugged me tighter, helping me to make sure I knew I was loved. "You'll find someone, L. Maybe not today, but someday."

Right as I was about to argue with him, my phone rang again and I almost didn't answer it…

Until I saw the caller I.D.

I flipped my phone open instantly. "Light?" I answered, keeping my voice level.

_"Hey! Is everything alright?! You ran out of the coffee shop so fast I barely had time to ask questions."_

I shook a bit, finding my voice and wiping away a few tears. "It's nothing. Everything's taken care of. There was just an emergency at the Wammy house, the orphanage I told you about, but it's been resolved."

_"Oh my god, is everything alright!? What about the kids? And your brothers?"_

"Fine. Everything's fine. Mello just… erm… he got hurt. But he'll be fine. If anything he's going to enjoy the extra attention."

He sighed in relief._ "Well, I'm glad to hear everything's alright. If you need someone to talk to, just name a time and place and I'll be there! I can't stand to hear one of my friends is going through something on their own. It's better to have someone to talk to about all this than dealing with it on your own."_

I grinned a bit. "Really, Light, everything's alright. Thank you though, you didn't need to call and check on me."

_"I'd rather I did and make sure you were okay. But I'm glad to hear everything's fine. I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"_

I nodded to myself. "Yeah… sure…"

I hung up and looked towards Wammy who was smiling cheekily at me.

"My mistake." He said. "Apparently you did find someone today."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Light's not… well… he's into women. Not… me."

"Well, if he didn't care, would he have called you?"

"That's not what I said. Believe me, I don't have a chance in hell with him. Not with his many fangirls all dropping to his feet begging for him to notice them. What makes me so special from them?"

Wammy took the phone from me gently, I suppose so that he may switch out this phone for a new one with a new number so Derek couldn't call back.

"You don't drop at his feet." He replied. "From what you tell me, he's someone who works for what he wants. Where's the work when people fall in front of him begging for attention? If anything, you have the highest chance out of all of them."

I scoffed at him. "It's not happening, Wammy. As much as I'd like it to, he doesn't have any interest in me. I'm just his friend… nothing more."

He pulled me into a hug and I accepted it happily. "But that's what makes you so perfect for him. You two are friends. In a relationship, if you aren't friends with your partner, how can you expect to live happily?"

I scoffed yet again. "He's not interested. He's straight as an arrow and just as sharp. I have no chance with him and I've come to accept that. Let's just leave it alone."

I let go of him and made my way to my laptop. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to call up a certain blonde and beg for his forgiveness in all this."

Wammy chuckled. "The boy took a beating for you. I'm sure he'll accept your apology."

"Maybe, but I think I'll send him a basket of chocolate bars to help him forget about all this. He deserves it."


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter right now... but there's more to come. Don't worry! :)  
><strong>_

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

I sat there in my thoughts, not even eating my breakfast. My mother always made my favourites for breakfast, but today I didn't feel like eating. My stomach was flipping too much to eat. Anytime I thought about my project, or Ryuzaki in general, my stomach flipped. It was so weird and uncomfortable, but at the same time I liked it. I didn't know what to do about this, and not knowing was getting me upset.

My father joined us for breakfast ten minutes after we started eating. He was happier than his usual self now that he had a few days off work to spend time with us. We were even planning a family outing this weekend. As much as I'd missed my dad and wanted to spend time with him, I didn't know if I'd be able to concentrate if this was how I was feeling. The tightness in my chest, my stomach flipping, and my head was beginning to go fuzzy now too. I'd never felt like this before.

Sayu noticed my utter lack of care towards my food. "Hey, so, if you aren't going to eat your fried tofu…"

She didn't have to finish. I pushed my breakfast to her and she smiled happily. "Thanks Light!"

I didn't respond, and I'm too sure this is what caught my parent's attention. However, my father had one more thing to try and get me out of this reverie.

"So, Light." He began. "Apparently L is working on a case here in Japan. If I can get into contact with him through Watari or the deputy director, maybe you could meet the computer himself." He joked.

I only hummed at this. "Alright, I guess."

Sayu chuckled a bit, almost spilling out her food. "Wow, Light you have a chance to meet L – the guy you've worshipped since you were eight years old – and you say 'Alright, I guess,'? You must be sick or something."

"Indeed," my mother started. "Are you feeling unwell, Light? Is there something going on at school?"

I thought about her question but had no way to answer it. Yes I was feeling unwell, but I didn't want to tell her my symptoms. Maybe I could pass off a lie… maybe a small fib that wasn't really a fib.

The thought came to me, and I looked up at her. "I… well… I kind of recently found out that someone in my friend group is… err… well, you know… 'Playing for the other team' if you will. And I'm not sure how to really go about this information."

"No way!" Sayu squealed. "I knew Tamlen was gay!"

I sighed. "Sayu, keep your mouth shut about this. I'm the only one he's told. And it's not Tamlen," I admitted. "It's Ryuzaki."

There, not exactly a fib. He had told me he played for more than one side. The only thing is, I already didn't care. I just didn't want my parents asking me questions about my own health at the moment.

My mother smiled at this. "Is he? Well that's so great for him!"

My stomach stopped flipping when she said this. "Really? You're okay with… that?"

"Light, he's comfortable with himself and his sexuality." She said happily. "There's no shame in that."

I shrugged. "I guess, but it's still…"

"Weird." My father ended, shaking his head. "I knew I got a strange sense from him. How utterly disgusting."

"Soichiro!" My mother chastised. "He's a good boy, as smart as our own if I might add. There's nothing wrong with his sexual preference."

"Yeah dad," Sayu added, "don't be so jaded."

"I'm sorry," he said sternly, "but I can't see how two men can find happiness together in the form of a relationship. It's not natural and I frankly think it's wrong. I wouldn't _say_ this to him, and please, welcome him into our household as your friend, Light. But make sure he realizes that you aren't anywhere near interested in him. I won't have my son ruining his life like that."

"Soichiro, how dare you!" My mother started up. "Are you saying that if Light was gay, you wouldn't love him anymore?!"

"No, I'm saying I'd set him back into his place and tell him being gay was not an option."

"It isn't an option, dad!" Sayu argued. "You can't choose your preferences, you just… like them! It's like how I like cheese pizza, and you like pepperoni. I can't make you like just plain cheese, and you can't make me like pepperoni."

"Sayu is correct, dear." My mom simmered down. "And in the event that Light did prefer men over women, and you couldn't do anything about it, what would you say?"

My father paused and that made my heart sink a bit. "I can't answer that. I am not put in the position to make this decision, and I never will be. Now can we drop this?"

I stood up from my seat and grabbed my bag. "This conversation is spiraling out of control now, so I'm going to school. We'll talk later."

"Light," My mother called, following me to the door.

At the moment I opened it, she stopped me.

"Son," she began, "no matter what, whoever you prefer or whatever choices you make, I will always support and love you."

She put a hand on my cheek and kissed my forehead. "Don't forget that."

I didn't really say anything to her. I just left the house feeling more confused than ever. The flips in my stomach continued once again and my chest tightened even more. I started to wonder what my father would say if he found out something like that about me. Would he really care so much if I dated a guy? If I maybe experimented a bit? I mean, where was the harm in experimenting? In finding out what my preferences are? Maybe a guy was better than a girl in some ways. How could he know if a wife was better than a boyfriend for me?

The entire walk to school my head was filled with these thoughts. Thoughts of experimenting and finding out my true preferences. I thought for the longest time that I liked girls, but then when I tried dating one they were only annoying to me. Then there was Ryuzaki, who made me feel like I was walking on air all the time. Something no woman had ever made me feel. The beautiful and lengthy talks that made me feel like I wasn't alone, the common interests around justice and peace… it was all so perfect.

_'What if I _did_ experiment with Ryuzaki? Asked him out or something? Maybe I could find out what I like so much in him.'_ I thought to myself. _'And… maybe he likes me. Would that be so bad?'_

Of course, no one could know about this. It was just an experiment, was all. Like… trying out a car from a dealer before deciding on it.

But, how did a guy ask another guy out without sounding weird? Was there a protocol? A special hand signal? I was so unsure.

I got to my school, finding Ryuzaki at his locker, and I felt my heart stop while looking at him. What was the catch with him? Why did I want him? If I liked a guy shouldn't it be someone more… well… like me? Handsome, smart, good personality…

But then I remembered what Ryuzaki told me when he admitted to liking men. He'd said he was a pansexual. Someone with no real commitment to either sex. They just fell for someone… because they liked them. So… maybe I wasn't straight or gay. Maybe I was pan. I just fell for Ryuzaki because… I liked him.

Coming to this realization, my stomach stopped flipping. Now it was just my chest that was hurting. Like my heart was squeezing inside of me. The flips in my stomach turned into a fluttering feeling. Butterflies maybe?

_'An experiment, Light.' _I reminded myself. _'Go out with him once and see how it turns out. There's nothing wrong with experimenting. It's how you figure out what's right and wrong.'_

I smiled to myself, heading over to the dark haired man before me. One date couldn't hurt me. And I had all week to prepare to ask him.

How difficult could it be?


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: In which I bring you another chapter! Gonna take a break now, maybe sleep, but I'll be back with chapters late tonight or tomorrow at noon!  
><strong>_

_**As always, thank you to all my supporters - you guys are amazing - and for the lovely reviews, you're all welcome to write them, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!**_

_**(Also, try to ignore any mistakes you might see. My microsoft word is terrible and can't pick up any mistakes... sucks I know!)**_

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

I finished up my paperwork and video on the cloud Light and I had created. Unfortunately there was no way to make it rain inside the warehouse, but we got the cloud to grow to a phenomenal size! I almost took up the entire warehouse at this point! Unfortunately though, we could no longer keep it. After all the video was collected and our research done, we opened the windows and doors and soon our cloud disappeared. It was quite sad actually. Seeing our hard work float away.

But I guess all good things must come to an end. Tragic.

As I was working on the video for our project, having moved to Light's place in order to finish, I noticed something was off about the brunette. He didn't seem as focused as he was before we started our project. He'd always go to ask me something, but then completely shrug it off. It was beginning to annoy me now and I was about ready to demand to know what he wanted to ask me so badly.

His mother let us work in the kitchen, having made us some celebratory sweets to commemorate a job well done, and when she left the room Light tried again to ask me… whatever it was he wanted to know.

"So… erm… Ryuzaki?"

I sighed. "Yes, Light?"

He hesitated a bit and was about to find an excuse to blow off the question until I stopped typing.

"Light, tell me what you want to know now, or I swear I'll sick your sister on you! I have the money to pay her off and you know it!"

He blinked at me before cowering a bit.

I turned to the living room. "Sayu!"

"Okay! Sheesh! I'll ask, I'll ask!"

I turned back to him. "You have been incredibly unfocussed, Light. It's not like you to act this way. Is there something going on?"

He cleared his throat a bit. "Well, I… err… I just wanted to… well I wanted to… and I…"

This was not like Light at all. He was always sure of himself, never stuttered or mumbled. What game was he playing at acting like this?

He took a breath. "What I wanted to ask you was…"

"SPRING BREAK!" Came a loud and obnoxious voice.

We turned to see Tamlen run into the house happily with Teri, Misa, Takada, and Mikami following behind him slowly.

The moment Teri entered the house she grabbed her brother by the ear and apologized for the disturbance.

Misa then ran up to Light and hugged his arm happily. "Light! We should totally go out during spring break! You know, go to a movie or something!"

"Fat chance, Amane." Takada sneered at her, then looked to Light luridly. "Light and I are going to the observatory. There's going to be a laser show and I got two tickets!"

"Ew, what a boring activity." Misa snubbed the idea.

"Oh? Being in a dark room, side by side, and ever so close to each other sounds boring to you? Well, good thing it's just me and Light then, hmm?"

Misa merely scoffed at her before looking away. Light just groaned a bit. Obviously he wanted no part of this.

"So what are we doing tonight, chief?" Tamlen asked after Teri let him go.

"Tonight?" Light questioned. "What do you mean?"

"You know, movie, video games, going out and hanging? We're going skydiving tomorrow, but after that granny says we got all week with you!"

Light groaned yet again. "I… I dunno. Maybe a movie?"

"Cool! I'm down for a movie!"

Everyone seemed to be in agreement with this… everyone but Teri. She hadn't said a word. She took one look at Light and knew something was up with him.

But she didn't call him on it quite yet.

"So," she began, "how's that cloud you guys were working on?"

I answered that for her. "We're done and putting the final touches on our project now. You'll see the results after spring break."

"Alright, good to hear it!" She said happily. "I mean, for two people who started out in a rocky start, you two sure seem pretty close. Right Light?"

It took a moment before he realized she'd said something. "Huh? Oh! Erm… yes. I suppose. We work really well together!"

"I see." She smiled out. "Well, if we're going to watch a movie, I suppose we should go out and get some munchies!"

Tamlen was in agreement with this. "To the store, all of us!"

And with that, they were all gone once again. Before she left though, Teri threw a small smile to Light. He didn't smile back until a second or so later.

We were alone once more, and he finally spoke to me in his regular, calm voice.

"So, do you want to go out and celebrate getting this project done before they come back?"

I looked at him with question. "But, aren't they just going to the store?"

"Believe me, they'll be an hour at minimum. We could watch the movie and it'd be over by the time they got back!" He smiled at me. "We could go back to the coffee shop. Maybe strike up another conversation about L. You could tell me how much you hate him." He joked.

I grinned at him. "If you don't mind, I'm done with talking about L. He's not exactly my favourite subject."

"Then… we could just go for a walk. See what there is to see. I don't think I ever took you on a tour around Japan yet."

I looked down at the amount of work I still had to finish for our project, but saved it all where it was right now.

"Sure. I'm done here anyway."

His smile widened and we got up from our seats. Before leaving we grabbed our coats while Light called to Sayu, "Hey, if Teri and the others come back and we're still out, tell them to just start the movie without us."

"Can I shove Tamlen in the closet with Mikami again?" She asked.

"Sure, I don't care." He replied before guiding me out the door.

I felt my heart flutter a bit in my chest at this. It wasn't a date, I knew that much. But no one said I could pretend it was a date. A walk through Japan? Just me and him? This was too perfect to be true. I didn't care whether it _was_ a date or not. It was just the two of us.

What could be better?

* * *

><p>I don't how long we'd been out now… but I didn't care!<p>

We'd gone on a walk throughout Japan where Light travelled to most, but we ended up forgetting why we were out. It just turned into a walk with no real purpose. Sometimes we drifted off into silence, but it was a nice silence. Like we were enjoying each other's company kind of silence.

At some point we drifted off the trail of our walk and stumbled upon a small fair that was happening not far from the main city. Of course the cotton candy and other sweets drew me in almost immediately and we went to see what this place was about. This fair made me remember all the times Wammy took me to the ones when I was little. It was a great nostalgia trip for me, and it made my night even better than it already was. Light was right beside me, I was at a fair, and I had no work to think about. I had never been more free than I did at this exact moment.

During our stroll through the fair, something caught Light's attention and he immediately made his way to one of the games booth. Following him I trailed his eyes to what he was looking at. Among the top shelf was a bunch of giant stuffed animals, one of them being a panda bear.

When the man came up to Light, he asked, "How much?"

"Five dollars for three balls," he answered, then pointed to the stacked bottles, "Knock down all six bottles, you can pick whatever's on the top shelf."

Light chuckled. "Are you a betting man?"

The lanky man leaned forward on the table. "What'cha' got, kid?"

Light gestured to the three stacks of six bottles on the shelf. "I knock down all those bottles in one shot, I get everything in your inventory."

A few of the kids behind us 'oohed' at Light and a group started gathering around us.

The man laughed at Light. "Alright kid! You got yourself a bet! If you lose though, I get that handsome watch on your wrist."

Light looked at his watch before looking back up. "Deal."

The man gave him one ball and Light paid him his money. Light focussed his sight, made for the wind up, and threw the ball as hard as he could. It slammed right into one of the boards holding up the shelf, and all the stacked bottles came tumbling down! Light had actually done it! He knocked them down, in one shot, on the first try! The crowd had actually cheered for what he'd done it was so amazing.

The man was dumbfounded as he turned to the brunette.

Light was leaning on the table, smiling a cocky grin at him. "I believe you owe me everything in your inventory."

The man groaned. "Well… I suppose I do…"

"Tell you what," Light added, "give me the panda bear and the giant turtle next to it, and give the little kids here the rest of what's on your top shelf, and you can keep everything else."

The lanky man chuckled at him. "I guess I can do that."

He handed over the bear and turtle and we went on our merry way. I chuckled at all the little kids that lined up to get something from the top shelf, Light eyeing the man closely until all of his top shelf inventory was gone. When he was done, we left the fair.

He handed me the panda bear. "Here. Now you don't have to steal anymore panda cubs from the zoo."

I smiled happily and hugged the stuffed animal as tight as I could. It was a lot softer than a real panda, plus I couldn't get in trouble for this one!

I heard him snicker a bit and I looked up at him with question.

He simply smiled at me. "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy, Ryuzaki."

I looked away from him, still smiling. "Well… no one's ever won something for me before." I then looked at the turtle in his hands. "But what about the turtle?"

He chuckled. "Tamlen made me promise him that if there was ever a giant turtle stuffy, that I'd win or buy if for him."

I couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Might I ask why?"

He looked at me. "I have no idea, but I saw an opportunity and went for it. Too bad there weren't any penguins though."

I didn't even have to guess. "Matt and Mello?"

"Matt and Mello."

* * *

><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

Tonight was better than perfect! Was that even possible? Because it was!

I didn't know what to expect when I asked Ryuzaki out, but it was better than any other date I'd been on! After the fair we went to park and just sat on a bench, talking about things that mattered to us. He even told me more about the Wammy house. How he met Wammy and got off the streets. It was nice to just hear him talk though. And his smile! He hadn't stopped smiling all night! He just kept on hugging his panda stuffy and smiling! Out of all of the great things to happen to me that night, his smile was one of the best things of all! There was nowhere else on earth that I wanted to be but here with him.

After the park we began to head back to my place to watch that movie with the others. Along the way I saw a line of paper swans hanging from the window of someone's room.

I sighed at this. "You know, I've lived in Japan my whole life and not once could I do a stupid origami swan."

Ryuzaki chuckled at this. "You're kidding me, right? That's grade one, Light! How could you not know?!"

I shrugged, chuckling back. "I'm sorry, but I just can't follow the steps!"

He sighed, grabbing my hand. "Come on."

We hurried to a diner nearby and upon entering it he let go of my hand, grabbing a few napkins. After this, he sat me down at a booth and showed me the steps. I followed as best as I could, but my swan did not look anything like his. His was clean and crisp while mine was crumpled and limp.

I chuckled again. "I told you."

He sighed once more. "You really are hopeless, aren't you?"

I playfully shoved him, making him giggle. "Let's just get back before the others leave. I want to get rid of this turtle as soon as I can."

He agreed and we made our way out, but not without paying for a drink for Ryuzaki to sip on. After I questioned him about the drink, he replied saying it was rude to just go in and not buy anything. I suppose he was correct. We were only in there for a few seconds anyway.

We made it to my house in no time and I could feel my heart beat rapidly in my chest. My night was over. Tomorrow would go back to being as miserable as before…

But… I didn't want it to go back.

Ryuzaki turned back to me, but his smile was gone. "I suppose they're gonna wonder where we went, hmm?"

I nodded. "I doubt they'll be too mad at us. Well… if Mikami was locked in the closet with Tam again…"

He smiled half-heartedly. He then dug into his pockets and brought out the swan he made. "Here. Take it and learn from it. It's a little sad to know you've never learned this art form, Light."

I took it happily and I felt my heart flutter even more. I didn't want this night to end… I didn't want _this_ to end. What we had… what we could have… I didn't want to lose it.

He went to open the gate but I stopped him with a gentle hand. He was quite taken aback by this…

But more so for what I did next…

I took no time in leaning in and connecting my lips to his and he stilled. I had no idea what was going on in his head, but in mine I could just hear the explosion of fireworks fill me from the core. I had kissed a girl or two in my life… but none made me feel like this.

I backed away a bit when he wouldn't kiss back, and I paled. All he was doing was staring at me.

Dear lord had I made a mistake?

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

I couldn't believe what had just happened. Light Yagami, the man of many fangirls just falling at his feet, had kissed me… had chosen me…

I was too stunned to speak.

He shook his head a bit. "Ryuzaki, I'm so sorry if I went too fast! I just… I… ever since…"

I didn't let him finish.

I dropped my bear and pulled him in for another kiss, too happy to care who saw us! Out of everyone at school, out of all the fangirls, and Misa, and Takada, he chose me! I was his choice! No one else! And no one could take that away from me!

After a moment or so, he kissed me back and we stayed lip locked for as long as we could. When we broke apart for air, we merely smiled at each other.

"So… you _do_ like me." He stated.

I nodded, cuddling in closer to him. "And… you like me?"

He hugged me close. "More than you think."

I smiled at this. "So what do we do, then?"

I could tell this was a touchy subject for him because he didn't answer me right away.

He shrugged. "If you want, we could keep dating. But I can't let my dad know… not yet anyways. He might not take it too well."

"And your mom and sister?" I asked.

He didn't let go of me. "No one. Not yet anyway. I kind of only just found out about this myself, to be honest."

I nodded, backing away a bit to look him in the eye. "I understand. It's alright with me."

He kissed my cheek then and I smiled.

He grinned back at me. "God do I love your smile!"

I cuddled back into him and he once again hugged me close. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I know it's not right to hide something like this, but…"

"I already told you, it's alright." I reassured. "Just as long as you mean it when you say you care about me."

"I do." He assured. "I always do. And I always will. I'll see you every day if I can! I'll text you every night until the hour I fall asleep! I don't know what we'll do about school, but we have all of spring break to figure it out! And I want to be beside you as much as I can."

I almost cried at these words. It was all I'd ever wanted to hear from someone and more.

"We'll figure it out." I assured, backing away from his embrace. "But we have some friends in your house who are wondering where we are and I suggest we get our story straight before we enter."

I picked up my panda bear and opened the gate while Light came up with our story.

"We went to the fair on a whim because we knew we had time to. I won the turtle, you won the panda."

"Pretty good, but we've been gone for about two and a half hours." I reminded.

He gave a quick moment of thought to this. "Before that we headed out to eat to celebrate the finishing of our project."

I looked back at him to judge the story. "Well, Misa might buy it."

He shrugged. "Maybe. And who's gonna argue with the pretty blonde girl?"

"Hmm, I suppose you're correct."

He stepped in front of me and opened the door, gesturing for me to enter first. "After you, M' lady."

I scoffed as I walked in first. "Says the man with too much hair product."

"Don't lie, you love it."

"Keep dreaming, Yagami."

When we entered the house as friends we saw the rest of our group sitting about in the living room watching an old slasher flick. They noticed us enter right away and immediately asked us where we went. Light told them our story then threw the turtle stuffy to Tamlen.

Needless to say… he was quite happy.

"WHAT! I GOT A GIANT TURTLE, BITCHES!" He exclaimed loudly, dancing around circles with his turtle stuffy.

Teri pinched her brow. "Thanks, Light! As if I didn't have enough problems with my brain-dead-brother!"

Light only chuckled at her. "You're welcome!"


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: Okay, I'd like to get one thing across here...  
><strong>_

_**No, I have never been to Japan - and quite frankly, I don't think I ever will be able to because I'm a below middle class, university student, who barely has a penny to her name, and who has never left Canada - so no, I don't know Japan that well and I'm currently getting all my information from friends who were lucky enough to actually go to Japan for a school trip, (Why didn't I go? Refer to the beginning of this paragraph) and the internet.**_

_**To those people who are leaving "reviews" telling me about Japan and the customs and whereabouts and yada yada... just stop. Okay? I get that you're trying to inform me, but it's a fanfic - a terrible one at that, but hey writing makes me happy, so whatever - and I'm not getting the best information on the country itself. My friends are answering my questions as best as they can, but even they can't help me with everything.**_

_**Also, if you're going to ask questions in a review, don't ask questions through a guest review because I can't message you and tell you all this stuff to just you alone. No, I have to make A/N's that answer your questions and make me look like a moron. So here:**_

_**To Carina: What I mean by 'a walk through Japan' is literally a walk through a country I have no experience with - even though I've DREAMED of going there. But guess what, no cash. That's university for ya! Making you broke within minutes and ruining your sleeping habits. That's why I'm up at 2 a.m writing chapters for a story I love to write. But frankly, having to answer asinine questions, while dealing with horrid reviews on the side telling me to "drop dead" and "give up" is really getting to me. And to the people who have been saying nothing but good things and just immersing yourself in the story and not asking questions I can't answer... Fucking awesome! I love you guys!**_

_**Also Carina, thank you for not telling me to drop dead in your guest review. I've had to delete stories before and change my settings because of people like that and it's refreshing to see someone with an actual heart on this site.**_

_**Lastly, to all my readers who are reading this out there, I'm so sorry to do this, but I'm taking a few days off. I need some time to cool off and maybe I'll get back to this story. I hope you continue to follow the story, I doubt it'l actually be a few days anyway, but I'm kind of not in the greatest of moods. I still love you all, you're fantastic people, and if you want me to keep writing, please say so.**_

_**Otherwise, I'll stop. I'm more than happy to back off and let others take the spotlight.**_

_**I hope you enjoy the chapter everyone, and thank you for being so understanding.**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

This spring break was one of the best I'd gone through! Ryuzaki and I were practically inseparable! More times than not I snuck him up to my bedroom so we could be alone together, but nothing other than few make out sessions really happened. Our friends tried to get us to go out with them and hang out, but we opted out a few times to stay with each other instead. There would be other times I could spend with my friends, but I wanted to be with Ryuzaki more right now.

There weren't many times where we went out on dates, knowing I could pass by anyone from my school and they would spread the word faster than wildfire. But when we did go out on a few dates, they were just as good as the one beforehand. Always happy, and always ending with a kiss. I never knew anyone could be as happy as I was with Ryuzaki.

It was the last day of spring break and we were once again together in my room, door locked, and as close together as I could muster. I loved these moments with him the most. Just hugging him close to me whispering sweet nothings in his ear. We'd turned on a movie but were hardly paying any attention to it. We'd gotten a text from Takada asking where we were and we lied saying we were at the library. I just hoped she wouldn't go looking for us. Well… even if she did, we could just say we left and went back to my place.

I planted my lips on his cheek, making him grin happily. "Should we just turn off the movie?" I asked. "We both know we don't care about it."

"Might as well," he said contentedly, "I don't much care for movies as cliché as this."

I hummed, resting my head on his shoulder. "I know what you mean. The guy's gonna get the girl and we all know it. It needs a better twist than that."

"The girl gets nobody?" He offered.

I nodded. "Or maybe an alien drops in and abducts the girl."

"Or the girl _is_ an alien!"

"Sent to seduce a man then eat his brain…"

"So that she may learn government secrets…"

"Then take over planet earth and start a new race of hybrid aliens and humans…"

"Who live off of human intelligence, therefor humans cannot be destroyed or they will surely die."

I chuckled at this. "We should be screen writers."

"We'd do quite well." He agreed.

I leaned forward and planted a few kisses on his lips. When he started to kiss back and things became more heated, I turned off the television and continued kissing him. Soon enough everything turned into another make out session on my bed yet again. My tongue exploring his, and his with mine… getting lost in the touches… my mind going fuzzy…

And just when things got more heated…

The handle to my door jiggled and something bumped into my door itself, jolting me out of Ryuzaki's embrace.

"Huh?" Came the small voice from behind the door. "Light? Why is your door locked?"

Sayu?

Ryuzaki turned to me and whispered, "I thought you said she'd be at school all day?"

I shrugged. "She's supposed to be."

I got up from my bed to answer the door, making sure to only crack it open a bit so Sayu couldn't see Ryuzaki.

"Sayu? Why aren't you in school?"

"It was a short day at school. Some guy set the bathrooms on fire so we got let out early."

I blinked. "This is why you've come to bother me?"

"Well, there's that, but I'm also wondering if you can help with some of my math homework. I'm not exactly grasping on to anything my teacher's trying to teach me. Can you help?"

"Uh…" I looked back to the dark haired man behind me and he just shrugged. "Well… can you wait a second?"

She looked confused. "Why? What's going on?" She went wide eyed. "Do you have a girl in there?! Mom and dad said you can't have anyone in your room with the door closed!" She then gasped. "And your door was locked too!"

"What! You're insane! I don't have a girl in here!" And I was telling the truth.

She looked at me with narrowed eyes before taking a step away. "Alright, I'll wait for a moment. But I really don't think you're telling me the TRUTH!"

She kicked the door open, the door itself hitting me right in the fork of the legs on accident, and she ran in the moment I fell to the floor. She was in a stunned silence when she saw Ryuzaki though. However, the smile did not leave her face.

"Oh?!" She exclaimed as she turned to me. "So you really aren't hiding a _girl_ in here! Now, when you said you had a friend who was gay…"

I stood up at this point, holding my crotch. "Sayu, shut up! And don't you dare tell mom or dad about this!"

"But Light!" She squealed happily. "He's your boyfriend! How could you not tell me!?"

I lay on my bed at this point, in too much pain to stand up anymore. "Ryuzaki and I are just dating. We aren't… exactly… boyfriends."

She crossed her arms at this. "Light, you two are up in your room making out. I highly doubt this is just dating."

Ryuzaki chuckled. "She's got a point, you know."

I glared at him before turning to her. "Sayu, promise me you won't say anything to mom and dad about this. They don't need to know."

"Mom should know." She countered. "She might even help you keep it a secret. Plus, you'd be free to roam the house while dad is at work."

"Promise me, Sayu!" I demanded.

She sighed. "Fine. I won't say a word. But you should still tell mom."

"Tell mom what?" Came a familiar voice.

I wanted to just die right now. My own mother now entered my room, seeing Ryuzaki on my bed, while getting relationship advice from my sister. Apparently the universe hated me very much today.

My mother wasn't as stunned as Sayu was though. "Light, is there something you want to tell me?"

I sighed. "Yes, your daughter is the spawn of Satan!"

"That was uncalled for, bro." Sayu replied. "But very true."

"Sayu, out." My mother commanded.

My sister didn't event hesitate. When my mother laid down the law, everyone obeyed or suffered the consequences.

She looked to me then. "Light, why are you keeping this from me? I can understand your father, but do you really not trust me? You know I'd accept this no matter what, so why hide it?"

I shrugged yet again. "I guess I just didn't want to take a chance. Dad would flip if he knew, and I don't know how trustworthy Sayu is. I guess I just thought it wouldn't help much if you knew."

"That's quite stupid of you, Light." Ryuzaki commented, earning him a shoved off of the bed. This only resulted in him laughing at my reaction though.

My mother hummed. "Son, I won't tell anyone. But please understand that you can trust me better than this. I'm your mother, and I accept you no matter what your preferences are."

I nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, mom."

"And as for this situation with your room," she started up, "your father and I told you that you can't have anyone up here with your door closed."

"Well, let's just tell dad about all this shall we." I said sarcastically, sitting up in my bed.

She crossed her arms. "The rule still applies, Light. But I'll make an exception if your father comes home early, or he's home in general. Also, no one stays over after ten O' clock. Understood?"

I nodded, feeling Ryuzaki climb onto the bed again.

"And furthermore, nothing '_happens_' under this roof. Not while I'm around, anyway."

"I think I get it, mom." I mumbled, feeling my cheeks go pink.

She looked at me for a few seconds before grinning. "Well, with that being said, your father's going to be working overnight tonight. Ryuzaki, would you like to join us for dinner?"

The man smiled. "I would love to, Mrs. Yagami!"

She smiled happily. "Then excuse me while I go get dinner prepared."

The moment she left Ryuzaki laid his head on my lap. "I like your mother. She's nice."

I groaned. "Yeah, but just wait until my dad finds out."

He shrugged. "Two out of three isn't bad… boyfriend."

I growled at him before smiling a bit. "You only get to call me that once."

"Or what?" He challenged. "Boyfriend?"

Not a minute passed before I chased him out my door and down the stairs towards the kitchen. He tried to use my mother – then my sister – as a meat shield but when that failed him, he ran out the back door and into the backyard, me trailing behind.

"You'd better get back here you British bastard!" I demanded.

"HEY!" He called back to me. "MY PARENTS WERE MARRIED!" He then took a moment before realizing his mistake. "Wait… no they weren't! Sorry!"

I had to stop myself from laughing as I started chucking a few slushy snowballs at him. He managed to dodge a few but I got him once or twice. When he started chucking a few at me, things escalated and we ended up drenched in melted snow, shivering for the slightest ounce of warmth.

Surprisingly, I even enjoyed this part of being together with him. Because it meant we could cuddle together for warmth later on.

But the door had to still stay open…

Dammit


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: Although you may not think so, I took my break and I'm feeling much better.  
><strong>_

_**To be honest with all of you, I've been incredibly stressed for the past two weeks and I only calm down when I'm writing. When someone - like my parents or brothers - interrupts my writing, I'm back to being stressed. It's not a fun process, but it's what works best for me. I'm also very introverted, so being alone and writing helps me to recharge from being around so many people. But asking questions where I can't answer them just stresses me out beyond repair. (It comes from a lifetime of being treated like child with 'special needs' at a school that allowed bullies to wear me down on a daily basis... but that's another story.)**_

_**To Carina: Water under the bridge. I'm sorry for calling you out like that, it was incredibly childish, and I'll try not to do so to anyone else in the future. Please understand, it was 2:00 in the morning, I've had little to no sleep for a week, and some things set me off when I'm under stressful situations. **_

_**To the rest of my readers and followers, I'm so sorry you had to see all that, I get incredibly passionate when I'm angry, and thank you for the undeserved kind words. You're all amazing, and thank you for encouraging me to keep on writing. Because I do love to write, and if this were a professionally done piece that I were to write for school, you'd bet your ass I'd be finding out all I can about Japan just like I did on a short story I wrote about a kid from America. (But this is Fanfiction... I think I'm allowed to be a bit lazy here) :)**_

_**Now, let's get back to some normality here, shall we? I'll be away from fanfiction - except on my phone when I'm bored XD - all of tomorrow since I have two classes for Art school. I highly doubt they're that difficult, but let me summarize this for you all... 3 hours of nothing but drawing, and 3 more hours of art history... all while being around people I don't know and being as introverted as I am.**_

_**...**_

_**Yeah... I'm gonna want to take a nap.**_

_**But I hope you enjoy this chapter for today, I may write another one, we'll see what happens because I personally think we're at a good part that shouldn't stop. **_

_**Thank you all again, and enjoy!**_

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

I finished up the last of my paperwork involving the case I had been working on for the past few weeks, and with that I was done. I was able to leave Japan freely and go back to England to see my brothers. I'd already spoken to Mello and found that he was doing alright concerning his collarbone. I'd even spoken to Near, whom Roger had moved into Matt and Mello's room, and found he was surpassing Mello now. The poor blonde, even with a broken collarbone, he still worked as hard as he could to get his grades as perfect – if not better – as Near's. I told him not to overwork himself, but he was a determined kid.

After I finished my paperwork, I finally realized that I was able to leave Japan… for good. I was able to go back to England like I'd wanted when I first came here.

But it meant leaving Light behind.

We'd only been together for a few days, dating for a week and a half. Was I honestly just going to ditch him right away? I didn't want to, but…

I sighed to myself and it caught Wammy's attention. "Are you alright, Ryuzaki?"

I shrugged. "I have a bit of a dilemma concerning Light and my relationship. Now that everything is done concerning my case… I have no reason to stay here in Japan. But… I don't want to leave Light so soon. It's not fair to him."

Wammy hummed at this as he grabbed my pack for school. It was morning now, me having worked all night to finish my case, and today was the first day back to class. It also meant Light and I had to present our project to our teacher.

He handed me the bag. "Well, Ryuzaki, if you're that fond of him then I suppose you have three choices to make.

"Go back to England in hopes he'll stay with you during a long distance relationship,"

I shook my head at that. "It's not that ideal. I'd like to be able to be close to him."

He hummed again. "You stay here in Japan with him,"

I actually considered this, but being L and Ryuzaki at the same time would cause more problems for me if I stayed here. Trying to keep a relationship and a balance on justice was difficult to say the least.

Wammy grinned. "Or you ask him to go with you to England."

Was that really an option? No… it wasn't. Not when Light's father was being overprotective of him, plus the fact that Light's entire life was here in Japan. England would be too different for him, plus the fact that he'd have to give up his dreams and life here. Not to mention the fact I'd have to tell him I was L…

No… none of these were good options.

I stood from my seat, walking to the door. "Wammy, I don't know that any of those are what's best for us. Maybe… maybe we should just end it."

"And ruin something as beautiful as this?" He asked. "L, you know that's not the right option. Not when you're happy with him."

"Well then what _do_ I do?" I demanded, turning to him. "I can't live here in Japan so far from the Wammy house, I can't ask Light to come with us, so what else of an option is there?"

He put a gentle hand on shoulder. "For the time being, we can live here if you want. Just until the end of the school year. If things work out between you two then you make a decision. I can't ask you to make this kind of choice so early on in your relationship."

I thought about this and decided he was right. It was better not to rush into this and start assuming things.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, thanking Wammy for the advice, then walked out of the house. It was the start of April now, so two months to decide what my course of action would be. Stay, or ask him to come with me.

But that's if we survived those two months.

* * *

><p>Our project was flawless and our teacher was most impressed with our work. We managed to get the highest grade in the class and the rest of the students were quite impressed with what we accomplished.<p>

When we were all done presenting, Light and I took our seats beside each other. Of course, only the two of us knew the real reason why we still sat together, but we still got looks from everyone. More so the female populace. Misa and Takada looked less pleased than the rest.

For the rest of the class we watched a documentary involving microbial life. We hadn't paid attention though because as soon as the film started, having the room darkened to see the screen better, Light took my hand under the desk when he knew no one would see us. We sat at the back of the room anyway so it was highly unlikely people could see him holding my hand. I had to admit though, even if it was cheesy, I loved every moment of it.

Of course, we couldn't talk during the film or we'd get caught by the teacher, so Light slid a few written notes my way when he could and I sent a few back. They were small nothings, but they meant more than he could have imagined.

After my relationship with Derek, if you could even call it that, I was left feeling alone and useless. I always hated bringing them up, but I knew it was my parents fault for making me feel desperate enough to fall for a man that hit me and degraded me on a daily basis. And when I'd met Light, a man who treated me right and helped me to find out how much more important I was to this world, I felt better about myself. I had courage again, and a backbone to match. It was one of the many reasons why I didn't want to let go of Light and what we started together.

I felt a pair of lips on my cheek and I jolted out of my thoughts. "Light!" I whispered. "I thought you…"

"We're at the back of the class," he whispered back, "as long as we don't make any noise we shouldn't be caught."

He kissed my cheek again and moved to my jawline. When he wouldn't give up I finally caved and kissed him back. I thanked god it was darkest where we were and we could stay like this until the bell rang for lunch. During then I had no idea what he had planned. He probably knew a place where we could be alone though.

The very moment the bell rang we separated, keeping our hands to ourselves as we began packing. Thankfully, no one had noticed us, but the thought of being caught was quite exciting.

We got out of there as soon as we could, not caring if our friends were left behind. I couldn't help but smile as we walked down the halls though.

"Do you get off on dangerous situations like that, Yagami?" I chuckled out, making sure to keep my voice low. "Because you know we could have been caught easily."

He just smiled at me. "Maybe. We'll have to try again tomorrow, see how that goes."

I rolled my eyes at him but before I could argue there came a familiar female voice behind us.

"You know, you two really are cute together."

We stopped in our tracks, turning ever so slowly to find Teri standing behind us, smiling cheekily. Behind her was her brother Tamlen, who was also smiling coyly, and Mikami who was just stunned.

I narrowed my eyes a bit, and without even looking at Light I hit him in the stomach.

"You're terrible at hiding us, Yagami." I stated.

Teri snickered. "Really guys? You make out in the back of the classroom and expect to get away with it?"

"He came onto me." I defended.

The brunette crossed his arms. "Like you were so against it."

"Relax, boys, we aren't going to tell anyone." She reassured. "Not even Misa and Takada. Let's face it, Misa would blab to everyone, and Takada would just stop talking to you."

I blinked. "I say we tell Takada."

"I second that!" Mikami agreed.

We all looked at him incredulously.

He merely folded his arms. "I thought I made it clear that I like Takada. Her not talking to you two would boost my chances with her."

Light sighed to himself. "Look, thanks for not telling anyone, but be especially careful when we're at my house. My dad doesn't know about this and he'd have a heart attack from yelling at me for it. Please, promise me you won't say a word."

"You got it, man!" Tamlen said happily. "Dude, you got me a turtle! A GIANT TURTLE! You are my bro!"

"I wouldn't go that far." The brunette muttered to himself. "But thank you. You're all very good friends for helping us out."

"No problem." Teri shrugged off. "But one last question… who's the top?"

We both paled at what she asked before Light coughed nervously and answered. "We… uh… we haven't really… you know…"

Teri giggled. "You guys are adorable. Come on, let's go eat lunch while we can. We have drama with Miss Psycho Tycho afterwards and I hear she's giving us love scenes to do."

I growled at this. "Was the dancing not enough for her?"

"Oh please," Light replied, "like you hated dancing with me."

"With you? I love it! In general? I'd sooner die."

He rolled his eyes at me. "If there is a love scene, I'll think of you the entire time. Does that make you feel better?"

"While you're kissing another person? Not really."

"Correction…" Teri added, "You two are perfect together."

I grinned a bit at that. "Well, Light isn't as pig-headed as I thought to believe when we first met."

"And you aren't a complete child." He admitted. "In fact, I think you're more mature than all of us put together."

"Rude." Tamlen commented. "But very true."

After sharing in a small laugh we all went to the cafeteria to enjoy our lunches. Thankfully, Misa and Takada had extra-curricular activities at lunch so Light and I got to enjoy each other's company in the safety among our friends. The rest of the day was smooth sailing and once school was over for us, we went back to Light's place knowing his father wasn't home to spoil it for us.

Of course, though, Sayu was more than giggly about us being together having asked multiple times for Light to tell her about when he first realized he was gay. I found it funny, but maybe it was because she reminded me of Matt.

I still hadn't told them about Light yet. So maybe I should get to that as soon as I can.


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N: Another chapter up and ready. I might post one more before calling it for today. We'll see, but be prepared.  
><strong>_

_**As always, enjoy!**_

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

"You two got about a half hour more of cuddling before Amane arrives from her photo shoot." Teri informed us after reading her text from the blonde.

I groaned, snuggling into Light's lap. "Right as I'm about to fall asleep for the first time in three weeks?"

Light giggled as he pet my head. "Go to sleep, Ryuzaki. I'll wake you when she arrives."

"Well now it's just fruitless." I mumbled. "There's no point in sleeping if I'm going to worry about Amane barging in at any given moment."

"Barging?" Light chuckled out. "She doesn't clomp around, unrefined and animalistic like Bigfoot."

"Really?" I asked as I opened an eye to look at him. "I couldn't tell with her thunder thighs making all that noise for her. Every day I can hear her coming and going from a mile away."

Teri and Tamlen had been munching on chips at the time and almost choked from laughter at what I'd said.

Light merely shook his head. "You are snarkier than usual tonight."

I ignored him and cuddled into his stomach, warming up and drifting in and out of sleep. The human being was the best pillow on earth.

It was Friday night once again and the Yagami household was once again the center of our hang out session. Takada had to work on homework, so she wouldn't be coming around quite yet. As for Misa, with her up and coming modeling career, she did whatever photo shoots she could before hanging out with us. However, since she still didn't know Light was taken, she still flirted and cuddled him. I wasn't much of a jealous type, but I felt more than territorial around Light when Misa or Takada was in the room.

For the moment though, I would enjoy my time with Light as much as I could.

"Hey, I've got a question for you, Ryuzaki." Tamlen spoke up.

I groaned in response. "Yes?"

"It's concerning the information around sex between two males…"

"And, just like that, I'm an only child." Teri spoke up before he could ask his question. "Seriously, Tam, don't ask about that with them. I'm too sure they don't want to answer those questions."

"Excuse me, but I'm asking Ryuzaki." He reiterated. "Not Light. Why would I even ask him? He's been saving himself for marriage. Good luck with that being gay and all, by the way Light."

The brunette shook his head. "Well obviously I may have to make some changes to my plans, now won't I."

I giggled. "That's adorable, Light, you saving yourself for marriage."

"Oh? And what's your excuse?" He challenged.

I blinked, looking up at him. "What are you talking about?"

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Aren't you… you know…?"

"A virgin?" I questioned. "Light, I'm going to be honest with you, I'm not a virgin."

A round of ooh's circled the room and Light paled a bit.

"Well, my plans just changed again." He said to himself.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked before thinking about it for a few moments. "Wait, did you mean…?"

I sat up to look him in the eye. "Light, look me in the eye and tell me what your plans were."

He blinked a few times before nervously answering. "Well… I kind of was hoping… you know…"

Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow at him. "Light, I'm not jumping into bed with you anytime soon…"

"That's not what I meant!" He defended. "I just… I was hoping we'd be… you know… getting rid of our virginities together."

I was incredibly upset by how he'd worded that. "Getting rid of it? How on earth could you think like that?"

He shrugged. "I… I don't know…"

I got up from the floor and climbed onto the couch instead. "Light, I don't know that I want to be with someone who thinks 'getting rid' of their virginity is a good thing."

"Ryuzaki, come on!" He tried. "You know I don't mean it like that, it's just how it came out! But you've got to admit, it's a little embarrassing to be keeping your virginity for so long."

"No, it isn't!" I defended. "In fact I _still_ wish I had mine! Instead I gave it away to someone who didn't even care about me! All he wanted was a one night stand and he never called me again! How absolutely stupid it was for you to think that something as precious as that, something you can barely find nowadays, is worthless enough to you to think getting rid of it would solve all your problems! If anything, you'd just be disgusted with yourself!"

I could see the embarrassment in his eyes and the absolute sorrow in his posture. But I didn't care. He needed to know the truth about this. He was lucky to have his virginity…

That he didn't have to look in the mirror and be disgusted with himself.

I hid my face at this point but he just ended up pulling me into a hug when I wouldn't say anything more.

"I'm sorry. It was dumb of me to say that, you're right. I guess I don't really think about the consequences when it comes to something like that. I'm sorry that I made you so upset."

I didn't look at him. I just pushed him away from me and headed for the door. I'd already embarrassed myself enough tonight… I didn't need to make matters worse. He tried to stop me, of course but Teri held him back. Sometimes I liked how she could read minds. She knew I needed to be alone.

I walked all the way home, knowing it was blocks away. The whole time I just wanted to jump into traffic. Just to stop the thoughts.

I'd been so desperate… I just wanted to be loved. And I ended up giving away something I could never take back. He hadn't cared, either. Once he was done with me he threw me aside for the next desperate sap to get tangled in his web. The worst part was I couldn't even remember his name. But after him there were many others.

None lasted very long. Some women, some men… none of which truly cared about me. I didn't care much for them either. But… if I could just pretend that they loved me, that they cared even the slightest bit, maybe it would have been enough to help me.

And then there was Derek. Someone who had me fooled from the moment I met him. He was charming, suave, gentle… and he told me every single day that he loved me. And then he got more violent, hitting me in what he'd call a 'playful' manner. He'd call me horrid names, none I liked to repeat, and no matter who I talked to – even if it was Wammy or the boys – he hated them. He demanded I stop speaking to them… then hit me again if I disobeyed. But… he always apologized… always told me he loved me.

Why had I believed him?

I made it home before the rain started up and I entered into the warm house before me. Wammy was more than worried to see that I'd walked home from such a great distance, but after seeing my face I suppose he knew why I hadn't called.

He made me some tea right away, even leaving some cake out for me but I wasn't too hungry. I just wanted to curl up on my couch and forget about how badly I'd embarrassed myself around Light.

He handed me the tea. "What's wrong, L?"

I didn't look at him, but I had to know. "Wammy… am I a terrible person?"

"What on earth are you talking about? Of course not!"

I felt a tear roll down my cheek and I wiped it away. "Then why did I do all of those terrible things? Why did I give myself to terrible people who only used me? Why can't I just be normal?"

He pet my hair down. "Because this world needs the abnormal. If everyone were the same, it'd be a boring world to live in."

"But all the mistakes I made…"

"L, we all make mistakes we aren't proud of." He interrupted me. "Sometimes we don't have a rhyme or reason to them. Sometimes it's an act of desperation. I know you aren't proud of the things you've done in your past, but it's what you do now that matters most. I won't ever turn away from you because of it, and you should trust that your friends and loved ones won't either."

I took a small sip from my tea, feeling my heart break a bit. "I don't know if I can trust Light, Wammy. I'm scared he'll look at me differently… like I'm vile."

The old man before me nodded at this. "Then take some time off from him to decide what you want to do. I've got a few cases we can work on from home while you recuperate."

I nodded solemnly. "Can we start them later? I'd rather just take a nap for a while."

"Of course. Take all the time you need."

I cuddled into couch pillows a bit more, setting down my cup of tea. Among the pillows was the panda Light won for me at the fair. I'd thought about getting it out of my sight, but it smelled too much like him to give up. Like I was still cuddling him and he was right there petting my hair lovingly.

I let my eyes close and I went into a dreamless sleep. I'd work on those cases later. Right now, all I wanted to do was rest.

* * *

><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

I didn't mean for Ryuzaki to feel hurt by what I'd said. That wasn't my intention one bit. And looking into his eyes for that split second… seeing the pain behind them… I felt more than stupid for what I'd said.

"I am such a moron." I said to myself, hiding my face. "I never even thought about how he felt about all this, and now look! I just screwed everything up!"

"Okay, first of all…" Teri started up. "You are a moron."

I looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"Hey, I'm giving you some hard truth here. You're a moron because you said something moronic. But that isn't why he's upset right now. He's upset because he's dealing with some emotional trauma that he needs you to help him with."

"Me?!" I exclaimed. "Teri, I'm not a psychologist! What can I do?!"

"You can reassure him that you're there for him when he needs you most." She demanded. "He's obviously embarrassed of his past and thinks you won't love him anymore since now you know he's not a virgin. Even more, that he gave it up so freely in his past."

"That's crazy. I'll always love him." I paused. "Why would any of that matter to me?"

"Well," Tamlen piped in, "you did say you wanted to lose your virginity together. Now that that 'plan' has sailed, you just want to 'get rid of it' and make it an even playing field with him."

"That's not what I said!"

"It sure sounded like it." Mikami muttered. "Look, I know I'm not the greatest with relationship advice…"

"I'll say, you hooked me up with the tuba player in band last year, dickhead." Tamlen started up. "I was in a perpetual loop of annoying for three long months!"

"Whatever." The man shoved off the topic. "The point is, Ryuzaki looks like the kind of person that needs reassurance in his life. Like no matter what, his knight in shining armour will be there to catch him when he falls and vise-versa. And Light… you haven't been given a reason to catch him yet. Not until right now."

Tamlen suddenly slapped him upside the head. "And where was advice like this with tuba girl!?"

While the two bickered Teri turned back to me. "Mikami has a point, Light. You're so used to people falling at your feet, that now that _you_ have to fall to someone's feet… you don't know what to do. In a relationship, though, no one should be falling over anyone. When you fall, you get hurt. That's why you need to stop falling in love with him, and just _be_ in love with him."

I thought about this for a long while before finally nodding to her. "You're right. All of you. I can't believe…" I couldn't even finish my thought. "I'll make it up to him though!"

"How?" She asked. "I mean, what could you do for him?"

I thought about this and came to a decision almost instantly. It would take up my whole weekend, but with no school on Monday I could utilize that entire day to making it up to Ryuzaki. This wasn't about me anymore… it was about us. Us, and what we were together.

And I needed to save it before I lost it forever.


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: Last chapter for the night. Remember, there may not be a chapter tomorrow.  
><strong>_

_**Well, goodnight my readers, hope you enjoy, and stay awesome!**_

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

I wasn't too into my current case at the moment. All I could think about were my past mistakes and how they were effecting my present. Light hadn't called or texted once since my outburst and now I was looking at just disappearing and going back to England. Obviously Light wanted someone more… well… ready for him.

I knew Wammy could sense my despair and more than once offered to take me out of the house and try to forget everything. But I didn't have the heart to do it. Everything just made me more and more depressed.

Maybe I should just leave. Forget Light and everyone else. Why would he care about me anyway? He doesn't care enough to show his affections to me around anyone. Anyone who knows about us found out by accident. If it were up to him we'd still be hiding up in his room away from the world and wandering eyes. I was just a tool for him… an experiment.

Wammy set down some cake in front of me but I declined it. This made him speak up.

"L, you haven't eaten anything this entire weekend. You know that's dangerous for you, especially with your low blood sugar. Please eat something."

I wrapped my blanket around me a bit more. I was freezing cold and weak, but still I wouldn't eat anything. My stomach churned too much to eat sweets or cakes.

The old man sighed, standing up from his sitting position. "I'm afraid, L, if you don't eat something we'll have to revert to more drastic measures."

I shuddered at that thought. I knew what he meant and I wasn't fond of it. I wasn't fond of needles in general, but I had an emergency glucose pen that I was supposed to use if I ever was unable to eat sweet foods, which didn't happen very often.

I forced myself to take the piece of cake in front of me and start eating. It made me sick to my stomach but I'd sooner feel sick than be stabbed.

Once I was finished with that, I went back to my case. I'd only been half paying attention to it when someone knocked at our door.

Working as quickly as I could, I packed up and divided all of L's equipment and went back to resting on the couch. I suddenly realized how much sugar I was truly needing because I was tired just putting away laptops and paperwork.

I listened in on Wammy's conversation with whoever was at the door.

"Ah, if it isn't Light Yagami!" He said excitedly.

Light? What was he doing here? He'd only ever visited my place once and immediately we never came back here. Not because he hated it… but because he loved it.

I admit my house was spacious. A large living room, backyard, and two master bedrooms, one for Wammy and the other for me if I ever needed sleep. Plus I decorated it with only the finest of equipment. Large, flat-screen television, granite counter tops, a few marble walls, and king sized beds, tables, chairs… well… king sized everything if that was possible. In a big house, I needed something to fill it all.

I continued listening in on them.

"I'm incredibly sorry to disturb you today," Light's voice came up, "but I'd like to speak with Ryuzaki, if I might."

"Of course. He's in the living room. He's a bit under the weather, though, so I advise you to be careful while speaking with him."

"Will do."

It was a few more minutes before the brunette himself came into my sights. I had to pretend like I didn't hear him just a moment ago by the door.

"Light? What are you doing here?"

He sat down on the floor beside the couch, making sure to keep eye contact with me. "I came here to apologize for what I said. It was absolutely stupid of me to say something like that, especially when I didn't know your thoughts on it. It was completely and utterly senseless of me. And I want you to know that I don't care about your past with anyone else." He grinned at me. "Because all that matters is what we have right now. And I'm so sorry I was too dense to see that sooner."

I smiled a little at him. "Apology accepted."

He smiled happily before digging into his bag and gently handing over a small wooden box to me. "Here, open it. It took a few hours to make, but it was well worth the time and effort."

I was a little confused by this until I opened the box.

In it was a rose, but it wasn't like any other rose. It was made of flavoured sugar. I could even smell the small hint of strawberry coming from it. It was honestly so well made I couldn't bear the thought of eating it. This may have been the first candy that I never wanted to eat.

I closed the lid and set the box down somewhere as carefully as I could before throwing myself at Light and kissing him passionately. No one had ever been this romantic with me and I loved it!

When I finally backed off for air he laughed happily at me. "I take it you like it?"

I pecked his lips. "I love it, Light! Where on earth did you get it!?"

"Like I said, it was made for you. I have a friend who does that stuff at a bakery. They basically make things out of pure sugar, add some flavouring to it, and then put it on the cake. I had to beg him to work overnight with me to finish it before the weekend ended. It's kind of why I didn't text you all weekend. I'm sorry."

I kissed him again to shut him up. "Don't even worry about it. I'm more than happy that you just thought about me at all."

He grinned at me, brushing my hair back. "Of course I thought about you. I always think about you." He kissed my cheek and I melted into his touch. "I love you, Ryuzaki."

The way he'd said that was so much different than when Derek had ever said it to me. It was meaningful, loving, and warm. He didn't say it because he had to… he said it because he wanted to.

I felt my heart quiver in delight at this. "Do you mean that?"

He locked lips with mine passionately before answering. "More than anything."

I smiled at him in pure joy. "I love you, too."

Our lips locked once again and I don't know how long it was before we broke apart. I had to believe Light cared for me more than I was willing to. Others may have hurt me in the past, but Light was the only one to truly make up for his mistakes. I somewhat wondered to myself how long this would last. But… I had to try and believe in him. He was already a million times better than Derek was, but would he still love me if I told him who I really was? If he knew I was L?

He'd once said that L was his idle. Before I asked him whether or not he wanted to join me in England… I had to know who he would choose.

L? Or Ryuzaki?

If he chose L, then it was all purely for selfish reasons. If he wanted to stay with Ryuzaki, then his heart was true.

And I had a plan to see which one of my personas he wanted more.


	18. Chapter 18

_**A/N: I was right, I needed a day off yesterday! But I'm recharged and ready to write! (Not to mention I've got two days off from school, so I have plenty of time to write!)  
><strong>_

_**Hope you all enjoy, thank you all for the awesome feedback, and stay lovely my readers! :D**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

Hiding my relationship with Ryuzaki from my father was tougher than I thought it would be. For example, his work was sporadic so if I ever brought Ryuzaki home and, my father had come home early, I had to make up an excuse for why he was with me at that time. It didn't help that my father knew Ryuzaki was gay either because he'd look at him with distain most times. I don't think he minded, but I sure did. In a way, when he looked at Ryuzaki that way, he was looking at me that way. And there were times I just wanted to tell him the truth out of pure frustration. However, knowing my father, I'd be out on the street in no time if he knew the truth.

Ryuzaki knew this, too.

He offered to let me stay with him so I could get away with telling my father and still have somewhere to go, but I declined. I'd tell my dad as soon as I could, and hope to god that he still loved me afterwards.

Maybe I was being stupid. My father did care about me, and he always promised that he would no matter what. But it took so much to make him proud of me, and I loved it when he was proud of me. To know that the son he spent a lifetime grooming and preparing for the best… had a boyfriend… wasn't a pleasant thought on my part. But… he's my dad. He'd love me no matter what.

Right?

I contemplated this while eating breakfast. It was the weekend yet again, but Ryuzaki said he had some work to do for class so I wouldn't be seeing him until later tonight. As soon as my sister got word of this, however, she more than mocked me about… well… adult matters. And, of course, my mother had to hear of it from her, and that was pure embarrassment.

I took another mouthful of food, savouring the taste, when Sayu giggled at me. With our father being in the room at the moment she couldn't come forward and say who I would be with…

But she could definitely say what she _thinks_ I'm planning.

"So Light," she started, and I swallowed my food in order to argue back, "what time will you be meeting your _friend_ tonight?"

Right as I was about to say something, my father stepped in. "Friend? Tonight? What does she mean by this?"

I growled under my breath. "Nothing, dad. Sayu's just talking nonsense now. Just ignore her."

"Son, you don't need to lie to me. If there is a girl in your life I won't stop you from seeing her. But if you are doing anything explicit…"

"Don't!" I demanded, dropping my utensils and raisin my hands. "First and foremost, no I'm not doing anything 'explicit' behind closed doors. I'm going over to my friend's house to study…"

"Great alibi, Light." Sayu commented, giggling to herself.

I paused. "And secondly…"

I kicked her chair and she fell to the floor with a loud thump. She didn't seem to care though, even laughing as I did so.

My father sighed. "Light, I don't care if you're doing anything explicit. I just care that you know what you're doing and that things aren't moving too fast."

"They aren't." I semi admitted to him, resuming my breakfast. "Believe me."

For the first time in a long while, my father seemed interested in something other than my academics. "So there _is_ a girl in your life! Well, let's hear about her! Is it Amane or Takada?"

Sayu nearly bust out laughing, but thankfully held it in. Just what I needed, my sister's betrayal.

"It's neither, dad. It's someone I met at school."

"Oh? Well tell me about her." He insisted.

Sayu smiled cheekily. "Yes, Light, tell dad all about your _girlfriend_."

I glared at her for a few seconds before caving in. However, knowing my father, now wasn't the best time to tell him the _whole_ truth.

"She's…" I forced out, thinking of the correct words. "Well… I don't really know what to say about her. Everything about her is perfect… for me I mean. Not a lot of people find her attractive, but every time I'm around her…" my mind drifted off into thoughts of Ryuzaki, making me smile. "I can't help but feel my heart shudder in her presence. It's like my world revolves around her and no one else can make me feel so weightless and warm. And even when I tried to forget her and look for another more suitable, it just broke my heart. She's smart, intellectual, can hold a decent conversation, and above all… she has a great heart and a beautiful smile. And I don't think anyone else was meant for me more than her."

I finally noticed my mother tearing up in front of me and my sister in complete shock. I'd never once said anything like this in my life… but I'd meant every word of it. Ryuzaki was this and so much more, and I couldn't put into words how absolutely I felt for him. My sister and friends could mock me all they wanted, but it only meant that none of them had ever felt this way. And it was now that I wondered if he felt anywhere near the same as I did.

My father finally spoke. "Well, for a woman to make an impression on you like this, I'll have to meet her at some point."

I shook my head. "N-not yet. She's not exactly… a people person."

My mother suddenly hugged me. "I'm so proud of you, Light!"

"For what?" I asked, choking a bit from her hugs.

She kissed my head. "For giving someone a chance." She spoke softly to me, knowing who I was really talking about.

I hugged her back slightly, remembering old quotes from Shakespeare's plays that I never really understood until at this moment. The ones concerning love and happiness… ones that would read and never understand how people could be so stupid as to love one another like their lives depended on it. I felt shame for Romeo for killing himself over Juliet's 'death' or for Ophelia when she ended her life as well for Hamlet. I felt shame… but now that I looked back on them, would I not do the same for Ryuzaki now? If he ended his life, or broke my heart so utterly… how would I react? Would I cry to the gods and beg for my life to be ended instead of his? Would I not cry if he left me so utterly broken and betrayed? What on earth would I do if this were to happen to me?

A sudden ringing of a cell phone brought me out of my thoughts and I saw my father answer a call from work.

"Yes, hello?"

A few moments passed…

"What?! You aren't serious! Is he there right now with Watari?!"

Watari? L's guardian? What on earth…

"Yes, we'll be there as soon as we can!" He hung up the phone and turned to me. "Light, Watari, L's guard, has come by the task force headquarters with L's laptop to speak with you!"

I dropped my utensils again. "M-me? Are you sure?!"

"Yes, and we have to go now to see him! L needs to speak with you personally!"

"But… wait… why me!?"

"Go on! Don't question it! Get your coat and let's go!" He commanded as he finished his breakfast and hurried from the table.

I did the same before grabbing my coat and heading out the door with him. I wasn't excited though… I was scared.

Ryuzaki told me so much about L when he wasn't allowed to. If word got to the detective that I knew his secrets… who knows what could happen to me. And what about Ryuzaki? What if he'd been…? No… no, he was fine. I'm too sure L was a forgiving man when it came to the Wammy house kids. Ryuzaki would be fine. Me, on the other hand…

Well…

I'm happy to take this place for Ryuzaki. If L did anything to me, I'd be happy to take the punishment for him. Some people are worth taking the blame for.


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N: Gonna warn ya, the P. change from one to the other respectively. So be prepared for that.  
><strong>_

_**Alright, that's enough for today. I'll try to write a chapter for tomorrow but I might be pretty busy. I'll try, though.**_

_**Please enjoy, drop a review if you can, and stay awesome my readers.**_

_***Note: Warning... next chapter will be a little... adult... so be prepared for that if you aren't comfortable. (She says on a sight that lives for that stuff)**_

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

I waited patiently for Light to show up onto the screen. Watari was there in his disguise and had been informed that Light was on his way right now. I hoped, though, that everything would run in my favour.

I leaned forward in my chair, a bit nervous of what was to come. Light would be introduced to L, and given a choice. If he chose L, then I knew where his heart truly lay. I hadn't done this for everyone, knowing it was fruitless to people who didn't care who L was or what he did, but Light knew about L and idolized him like a hero. If I were to tell him I was L, who's to say he'll still love Ryuzaki instead of L? I needed to know for certain who he wanted more. Knowing Light though, the opportunity I was about to give him would quite possibly be his choice over me.

But, then again, Light was full of surprises.

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

I entered the task force building feeling my stomach churn in discomfort. L was here and he wanted to see me! But what for? What on earth could he want from me?! Other than Ryuzaki telling me about his past, I don't see why he has to make this so public to so many. Even as I walked through the halls more than a few cops looked worried for me. L didn't just call for _anyone_, so it was most likely that I was in trouble… or to work with him.

And I'm too sure I was in trouble.

My father walked me into the main office and low and behold a cloaked man stood before us, his face covered and darkened. Beside him was a laptop with nothing more than the letter 'L' on the screen. This was him…

This was L.

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><p><strong>(L)<strong>

Light looked absolutely nervous when he entered the room. He was so scared he was shivering. I suppose I could see why. He probably thought he was in trouble or something. It wouldn't surprise me. Anyone that met me was either an ally… or a dead man. One person once posed as me to get a few laughs out of emailing his coworkers threats. Of course, I couldn't have my name sullied or mocked, so I dealt with him swiftly and carefully. I believe he's living on a deserted island now. I didn't really know. I just told Wammy to deal with him and make sure he never mocked me again. But Light was not in trouble today.

In fact… once could say he was in the best place in the world right now.

I cleared my throat away from the microphone before speaking. "Good afternoon, gentlemen…"

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><p><strong>(Light)<strong>

_"…I am L."_

I was going to faint. I was actually in the room with the real L. No fakes, no lies, no pranks… this was him. I was beginning to forget what I was afraid of before I realized L called _me_ here to speak with him. Once again, I was asking the question 'why'.

I found my voice. "H-hello. I'm… uh… Light Yagami. You asked for me?"

_"Indeed, Mr. Yagami. I called you here because a certain student of mine has been speaking quite highly of you. Thus, you've grabbed my attention."_

So this _did_ have to do with Ryuzaki. Dear lord if I got him killed…!

_"Relax, Mr. Yagami."_ He said calmly. Well… as calm as a computerized voice could be. _"You are not in trouble. In fact, I'd say in you're in a very good position at the moment."_

"A-am I? But, how…?"

_"My student has said much about your intelligence and your capabilities of deduction. With this in mind, I'd like to offer a proposition to you."_

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><p><strong>(L)<strong>

Light went wide eyed. _"What do you mean, sir?"_

I sighed to myself. Here goes nothing.

"Light Yagami, I would like to offer you a chance to work alongside myself and Watari as our man on the field. Of course, this would mean having to leave Japan right away, as well as you family and friends. But do know I don't just offer this position to anyone."

I awaited an answer. Light was shocked into silence but I could see the look in his eyes. Complete and utter happiness. I could already tell what his answer was going to be.

* * *

><p><strong>(Light)<strong>

I couldn't believe this… L was offering me a job! He was asking me to work for him! This was a dream come true!

I turned to my father who looked more than ecstatic for me. I'd wanted a job like this since I was eight and following L's cases! To think that he was actually asking me to join him… to be part of his team and work with him on cases! It was… just… WOW!

And Ryuzaki…!

My smile died at this point. Ryuzaki? I had to leave him? Him, my parents, all of my friends, my home… I'd be getting my dream job…

But losing my dream guy.

But… I'd see him again… right? Ryuzaki said he knew L personally, so there was a chance…

But Ryuzaki didn't care much for L. Who knew when I'd see him next? And my mom, and sister, my dad and all my friends? I'd leave them behind too. But… they'd understand, right? My mom would be thrilled for me, and my father was more than happy for me at the moment. My friends would support me, and Sayu would be there to see me off as well…

But… Ryuzaki…

I'd never met anyone who made me feel the way he did. And I knew I never would again. So… why should I leave him for something like this?

But working with L was a once in a lifetime opportunity! I couldn't turn him down… could I?

In the end… I had to choose the better course.

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><p><strong>(L)<strong>

The brunette turned to the computer screen once more. _"L, I have wanted to work alongside you since the day I first learned about you! Hell, I've wanted to be you since I was old enough to start solving cases almost as quickly as you! The fact that you're giving me this opportunity is something I will never forget until the day I die!"_

So that was it then. He made his choice. Pity… and here I thought the man actually cared for me then.

I sighed once again. "I see. Then when shall we ready the plane for our departure? We must leave for England as soon as…"

_"No, L. I can't go."_

I was stunned. In complete shock. There was no way…

But, he'd actually chosen…

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><p><strong>(Light)<strong>

"Son! What on earth are you…?!"

"Dad," I said calmly. "I'd give the world to work alongside L. But not the people I love and care about. I have you and mom, and Sayu and the group…

"And… I have someone incredibly special to me. Someone I've needed for a long time. If I give all this, I'm making a fools choice. I'm sure L can do just as well without me than he would _with_ me. I'm sorry it's not the choice you'd like me to take, but I can't give up something this precious to me for something as stupid as a job offer."

"But Light," he started up again, "not everyone is offered this opportunity…"

"And not everyone is offered a chance at love!" I defended. "Look, I know you aren't happy with it, but that's my decision! I want to be happy, and I can't be if I'm traveling the world with no one to love or care for! Please understand that!"

My dad finally fell silent and looked away from me. "This offer won't come up again, Light. This will be your only chance…"

"Fine by me. I have what I need anyway."

I turned back to the laptop. "I'm sorry, L. But I can't leave someone I cherish behind. If I could bring them with me, it would be another story…"

The man behind the screen was dead silent. I was scared that I'd angered him until he finally spoke, a bit quieter than he was beforehand.

_"I understand, Mr. Yagami. In fact, I'm happy you're choosing to stay with this loved one of yours. They must mean much to you if you're giving up an opportunity like this."_

"More than you know. I'm quite fond of them, and I know they'd miss me if I left so soon into our relationship."

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><p><strong>(L)<strong>

I smiled happily at this. "Then this will be our goodbye, Mr. Yagami. Not forever, but for now. Perhaps I will offer you the job again someday. For now… adieu."

The screen went black and I hugged my knees closer to my chest.

He'd chosen me…

ME!

Over his dream job, he chose me! However much he'd wanted that job… he'd wanted me more!

And now I had to properly thank him for choosing me over L. Hopefully he'd be prepared for a night he won't soon forget.

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><p><strong>(Light)<strong>

Watari walked out of the room and out of my life. I wasn't sad though. I was happy with the decision I made. Besides, I got to speak with L personally! L had wanted me! No matter what, I always had that to hang on my personal wall of goals. But, however much L wanted me… I didn't need him. I had something a thousand times better.

My home,

My family,

My friends…

And Ryuzaki.

Thank god I had Ryuzaki. Surprisingly, I think he was the sanest thing about my life at the moment.


	20. Chapter 20

_**A/N: LOOOOOONG chapter today to make up for the whole day I was out and unable to write anything for you guys. But, just a warning, this a very adult chapter! Do not read if you're not ready to face guy-on-guy. To the others, have fun!**__**  
><strong>_

_**I should have a whole day to myself tomorrow, so there maybe more chapters. So be ready for that! **_

_**As always, I hope the majority of you enjoy (Like I said, adult chapter! I have warned you, please don't hate me! You reading this is all on your hands you sneaky little readers you!) Reviews are much welcomed, and stay lovely my readers! **_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

It had been a rough day dealing with my father. He was still angry at me for not taking the job with L, but after I asked him if he would take it, knowing he had to give up his family and friends and loved ones, he quickly shut up about it. But then… he just stayed silent. I knew he was still angry, but did he really have to ignore me so blatantly? It was _my_ choice, not his! And I believed I made the correct choice! I didn't want to lose my friends and family, and I sure as hell didn't want to lose Ryuzaki! Everything in my life was perfect the way it is, so why did he want to ruin that for me?!

My mother thought I made the right choice and was more than angry at my father for treating me like this. She knew how important this job was to me, but she knew how much more important my life was. She even tried talking to him but he just shrugged it off like it was nothing. He was making me feel terrible about the entire thing, even when I knew I was correct!

The whole walk to Ryuzaki's place was filled with thoughts on how I could make my dad talk to me again, but I couldn't see what I could do. Dear lord, if this was how he acted with something as stupid as a job offer being turned down, how was he going to react when he found out about me and Ryuzaki?! I didn't like that thought one bit.

I groaned to myself as I knocked on the door half-heartedly. My dad only wanted what was best for me, and an offer from L only came once in a lifetime! But… I just didn't want to be so far from the people I loved and cared for. I mean, my family would support me, yes, but who would I harass in the morning when Sayu wasn't there? And who would make my breakfast as good as my mother's cooking? And what about my friends? Yes, they were odd and made me want to tear out my hair some days, but they were fun and exciting, not to mention loyal and caring! Teri and Tamlen stood up for me when no one would when I was a kid, and Misa and Takada – yes, they were insane – but they were also incredibly loyal to me and cared greatly for me. Even Mikami was loyal to me and he was our newest friend! Who would I have to make me laugh and smile if I left them?

The door opened and I was pulled out of my thoughts after seeing Ryuzaki.

Him… who would replace him? No one. Because he was a one and only, and it took me a lifetime to find this feeling of complete and utter joy. How terrible I would feel knowing I gave up the one person I share a complete connection with, someone who listens to me and my thoughts and ideas, my hopes and dreams, and doesn't step all over me or lets me trample all over them! I loved this man! Why should I give him up for a stupid job!? To hell with L! He was a computer, no feelings or emotions, and worth no more than a few hundred dollars! This right here… this was priceless what we had. And to hell with my father who couldn't see the bond we shared together.

Ryuzaki smiled at me and took my hand. "Aren't you coming in?"

I shook my head of my thoughts. "Oh! Yes, sorry."

I followed him in, not letting go of his hand. I noticed something was off though. Wammy wasn't around.

"Where's Wammy? He's usually here to open the door instead."

Ryuzaki only grinned as he let go of my hand to close the door. "He'll be back tomorrow morning. He has some business to take care of concerning the Wammy house. He owns the entire place, you know."

"I figured as much considering the place is named after him." I chuckled out. I then realized the circumstances. "So, we're all alone then?"

He chuckled back. "Light, your observation skills have vastly improved." He said sarcastically. "Yes, we're alone. Does this pose a problem for you?"

I blinked at him. "Uh… no. No it does not."

Maybe a little…

Although it had been a month since we first started our relationship, Ryuzaki and I hadn't really… _done_ anything. Not that it wasn't on my mind, but I wondered how it would all… well… begin. It was easy enough to ask him out, but… this? I mean… did you ask for it to happen? Did you make a date for it? As smart as I was, I wasn't a social kind of guy. I let things fall into place and take it from there. Having to ask for something was new for me. Not to mention when I took sex ed. no one told us how to… initiate anything. Did it just happen? Even more… who was on top? I mean, obviously the male in a heterosexual relationship, but with us? Was there a coin flip or something?

Ryuzaki cocked an eyebrow at me. "You seem off, Light. Are there troubles at home?"

I felt my body quiver a bit when he strode up to me. "I… suppose. My dad's really upset with me at the moment, so I'm kind of thrown off by that. My mom's gonna try and speak with him again, but I'm too sure it's pointless."

Ryuzaki hugged me closely then. "My poor Light. If you want, you can stay here tonight. I don't mind."

I felt another quiver, but this time in my stomach region. Honestly, the man could say just about anything at this moment and weird stuff would be happening to me for no reason.

His touch was feather light as he traced small circles on my back. "Wammy left me enough food to share. You're more than welcome to stay with me if you need some time off from your parents."

The small touches were sending shivers up my spine. "I… guess I could stay. I see no reason why not. Are you sure, though?"

He took my hand again and he led me towards the stairs. "I'm pretty sure, Light."

At this point I felt scared. I didn't feel fear too often, but this scared me. Him guiding me up the stairs, holding onto my hand tightly, making every part of me shiver like it was freezing in the room. My stomach was flipping in both excitement and fear. If I knew what I was doing, then maybe this would be different…

We made it to the top of the stairs and I'd completely lost my voice. I wanted this to happen, more than anything! Hell, I'd imagined this happening for a week now! I was _desperate_ at this point! But… he had more experience than me… he knew what he was doing! What if I didn't live up to the others in his past? What if he was disappointed? Jesus, what if he laughed!?

These thoughts and more raced through my head as he opened the door to a room with a king sized bed. At this point, my imagination was running wild with impure thoughts. Just me and him… all alone… together in a king sized bed…

No worries about other people walking in…

No clothes…

Just us…

I finally let go of his hand. "I can't!"

Ryuzaki was surprized. "Oh? Are you alright? You seemed rather excited while we were walking up the stairs."

"I am! And I want this! I really do! It's what I've wanted for over a week! But… I just… I'm…"

I couldn't say it! I was too afraid he'd laugh at me. I mean… a man who had taken part in this activity a few times in his past, carelessly giving away his virginity, versus a kid who knew nothing about this or how to take part in it… I would think he wins in this debate! I was too sure he'd laugh!

He merely grinned though. "You're afraid." He said bluntly.

I finally caved getting a bit angry. "Yes! I'm afraid! Okay! Are you going to laugh now!? Well, go ahead!"

I didn't mean to raise my voice, but dammit if I wasn't embarrassed about this! I'd never been more afraid in my life, and now…!

He took my face in his hands and pulled me in for a kiss. I'd been shivering so badly from the fear that the moment he kissed me I calmed down and could feel my heart beat return to normal.

He backed away a bit. "Light, it's perfectly natural to be afraid. I was with my first time."

I blinked. "You're kidding me. But I thought you said…"

"Yes, I lost my virginity to a one night stand." He admitted. "But the bastard had me liquored up pretty good so I wouldn't be afraid of him. Fucker got away with it."

His hands left my face and I felt his fingers intertwine with mine. "Light, I'm not going to do the same to you. In fact, I like that you're afraid. It means you're having doubts. And if this is the case, then I'll leave you alone."

"But I'm not! I want this!" I said excitedly. "I just… I don't want you to laugh if I do something wrong."

He took my face in his hands again. "Do you really believe that I'm so immature that I'd laugh at you for something you've never done before?"

I shrugged, not really knowing.

He gave me a peck on the lips. "I promise you, I won't laugh. Something like this shouldn't be taken lightly, I understand. But, if you really want this, you have to trust me when I tell you I won't make fun of you. I love and respect you too much to do that to you, Light."

I nodded, lifting my hand to his. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be such a baby about this…"

"Light," he said sternly, "you're still a virgin. How should I expect you to be anything _but_ nervous? But believe me, it'll be fine. And we can wait if you want to…"

"No." I interrupted, making him smile cheekily at me. "And it's not because I want to get rid of my virginity. It's because I don't want to wait any longer. I know I want this… but I'm still…"

"I get it." He smiled out. "We can take it slow, if you want."

I nodded again. "But there's still one more thing; who's… well… you know…"

He chuckled a bit. "On top?"

I cringed into myself. "Yeah… that."

He started kissing my jawline, sending shivers down my spine once more. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

I never really noticed before, but in the moment Ryuzaki was very… masculine, compared to me. I mean, yes I was the initial man of this relationship. I got him roses, complimented him, made him feel better about himself. But at this moment, with him having more experience, I could suddenly see how much of a masculine figure he could be when it counted.

And some part of me liked it.

His lips moved to mine and I suddenly felt weak in the knees. What if I liked being submissive? Just… letting him have his turn? He was slightly older than me, and stronger to boot. He knew more, was a bit taller – when he stood straighter – and treated me like a child most times. So… why not?

He sat me down on the bed, realizing he would be the one calling the shots.

"My, my, Mr. Yagami." He said in a lower voice than usual, making me shudder in excitement. "I thought for sure you'd fight me to be on top. To be honest, I'm quite used to bottoming. Then again," he leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I like the thought of being dominant for a change."

That did it.

I must be a masochist or something but the way he said that made my pants tighter and my body shiver. Maybe it was because I was so used to calling the shots that having someone else dominate me… turned me on. As much as I loved being the one to be in control, knowing Ryuzaki was the same way… it made my desires even more alive than before.

He laid me down on the bed then, having removed my coat swiftly. The moment he began straddling my legs he noticed the slight stiffness in my lower region.

"Well, well… Light Yagami, a woman's man, and perfect husband material… likes to be dominated." He mocked slightly, causing me to grin a bit. "I'll have to take note of this."

I could still feel my heart racing, but I calmed down quite a bit from before. "And you just love to watch me squirm, don't you?"

He shrugged, leaning down to lock his lips with mine, speaking in between breaths. "I admit… its rather nice being the top for once… makes me feel all warm inside."

I placed my hands on his hips, guiding him closer to me. It was the wait that was making me shudder now. The anticipation of what was to come.

His lips didn't leave mine as he slowly unbuckled my jeans. Before pulling them down, however, he moved his hands up and under my shirt, pulling the fabric up and over my head as quickly and swiftly as he was able to without ruining the moment.

I guess he liked what he saw because something in his eyes changed from the regular, dismissive look, he usually gave me. It was intense, passionate, striking, and spine-chilling. It was the look of someone who hungered for another, and I wondered to myself if I'd make the same look after tonight when I was with him. I somewhat hoped for this.

His lips connected to my neck and I lost myself almost completely to the sensation. There were nips and licks, and very skilled movements of his tongue. Right around now was when I lost control of myself and hurried to unbuckle his own pants. But, of course, this didn't fly with Ryuzaki.

He took my hands and pinned them to the bed. "Impatient, are we?"

I didn't answer. I just continued to feel my heart race and my breath grow shallower.

He leaned down and feathered a few kisses over my lips. "Are you quite done going slow, Light? If so, I'm happy to pick up the pace a bit."

I could feel my pants grow tighter at this, and I knew he could feel it as well.

His grin grew more into a sneer. "I'll take that as a yes."

He let go of my wrists and removed his shirt completely. Despite his small frame, he was rather toned. Not buff – thank god – but… toned. Nothing too tight, and nothing flabby. Just… toned.

He locked lips with me once again and I lost myself in the skin to skin contact. I was so far gone into this state of pleasure I barely noticed Ryuzaki slip his hand down my pants. But it didn't take me long to figure out what he was doing.

The sudden burst of pleasure at his touch was almost too much for me to handle. I admit to there being times if self-pleasure with myself, but having someone else take charge was something completely different.

He kissed me lightly when I became rigid at his touch. "Calm down, my love." He whispered to me, adding the pet name as a joke of sorts.

I finally calmed down a tad, but went rigid again when he pumped. This was insane! I'd barely gotten anywhere with him and this was almost too much!

He sat me up a bit, his pants riding lower now that they were unbuckled. "Light, you chose to bottom for me. And, in fact, you made one of the better choices. If you were on top, I'd have to walk you through everything and the experience wouldn't be quite as… intense. It's better that I _show_ you what to do."

He let me go after a few pumps and I almost whined. How dare he tease me like this! How dare he leave me shuddering for more!

He locked his lips with mine, pulling my pants down and throwing them to the floor along with my boxers. I was beginning to think he liked humiliating me in this way. Me being completely naked, and him still having his pants on.

He chuckled a bit and I got worried. "And you thought I'd laugh at you."

"E-excuse me?" I asked, shivering a bit.

He grabbed me again and I felt myself twitch at this. "Believe me when I say this, Light, but I think you're the biggest I've had."

I blushed profusely at this. "You're such a bad liar."

"What do I have to gain from lying to you, Yagami? I meant what I said. You're the largest I've had. My last partner was tiny compared to you."

I knew I was blushing, but now I was certain I'd gone completely red. "I… don't know what to say…"

I felt his lips on my neck, watching as he slid his own pants off. "You don't have to say anything, Light. Just enjoy the compliment."

The moment he was completely undressed, I seized up.

In comparison between him and me… he was much more deserving of being top than I was. I didn't want to tell him, but god _dammit_ did he have all the luck in the size department! I didn't even want to think about how much this was going to hurt me…

But… it was…

I once again got lost in the skin to skin contact the moment he locked lips with me again. I was so far gone I barely registered the click of a bottle and the weird, slick feeling entering me. When I'd fully registered what was going on, it was too late and an almost blinding pain hit me.

I heard Ryuzaki chuckle once again, and looking over to him I noticed he hadn't yet entered me properly.

He moved his fingers a bit and I hissed. "God Dammit, Ryuzaki! Why the hell…!"

He only chuckled. "Light, you're a virgin. An incredibly tight one at that. I want this to be as painless as possible for you, and that means preparation. Believe me, it would hurt a lot more if I didn't. Now just relax, and let yourself get lost in the feelings. The more you loosen up the better."

I tried to do as told, but damn it hurt! I wasn't able to fully concentrate on calming down until I felt him hit a spot that made me almost scream in pleasure.

Another chuckle from him. "Well, that was easier than I thought."

I was shivering now, unable to keep my mind off the intense feeling in my abdomen. God, if this sent me into a spin, what would…?

I didn't have time to wonder.

I felt him enter me and an intense stinging sent me into a scream. Ryuzaki tried to muffle it a bit with a kiss, but it was so hard to ignore the pain. I thought he said he was preparing me!

I finally stopped screaming and he backed off from the kiss. "And here I thought you were ready." He joked.

I looked up at him angrily. "You couldn't give me a warning or something?!"

He snickered. "If I did that, you'd just tighten up again. Believe me, you were more than prepared. However, if you don't loosen up a bit, I might be stuck here for some time. I suggest you calm your breathing."

I felt myself unwind a bit and sink into the mattress, allowing my breath to slowly come to normal speeds. It was only then did the pain and sting of him inside me dissipated into a dull ache. Now that I thought about it, this was an excitement for the ages for me. I'd actually done it! I'd given myself to my one and only.

I looked up with a small grin on my face, noticing Ryuzaki looking at me with the same smile.

He held up my legs, but I took control of them again and wrapped them around his hips, pulling him in closer to me.

The moment he was within reach, I pulled him down for a lengthy, passionate kiss, practically begging him to never leave my side. The moment we broke apart, I could feel my mind go wild with desire.

"Keep going." I demanded.

He didn't have to be told anything more.

The first few thrusts hurt, but the more the time passed the less pain there was. Soon enough, there was nothing but pleasure. Although it somewhat seemed wrong, I thought about how angry my father would be if he knew I was doing this… and it heated my blood more! Knowing I was doing something he hated more than anything, disappointing him, making myself a living mistake in his eyes…

…doing something I wanted to do…

It was invigorating!

Ryuzaki noticed my enjoyment I suppose and picked up the pace, pumping my own arousal as he went. If only he knew what was going on in my head.

I didn't care anymore! I didn't care about my father's approval! To HELL with his approval! All I needed was this! This bond I shared with someone I loved! This perfect moment of pure bliss and excitement! This was what I needed more than any job with L! More than a wife or kids like he'd dreamed for me! This here… this bond… this absolute and utter perfect moment was what I needed! And to share it with someone I loved more than anyone!

I felt my stomach tighten and I knew what was going to happen.

"Ryu… I can't…" I couldn't even speak at this point.

He locked lips with me for a final time before answering, "I know… I feel it too."

Within moments I came, Ryuzaki following right behind. It was probably one of the most intense moments I'd gone through in my life.

But I was so happy I'd done this.

I felt him pull out and I felt an utter loneliness when he left me. But he was right there beside me a second later, making me smile happily. Having him right there, enjoying the aftermath of it all, the pure bliss and contentment with the world… it was all so beautiful.

That animalistic look in his eyes was gone now, but in it's place was a calming bliss that made my heart skip a beat.

He noticed me staring at him. "What is it?"

I was out of breath, but not unable to speak. "You're so… god, how do I compliment a man?"

He chuckled weakly, as out of breath as I was. "What would you use to describe a woman?"

I grinned back at him. "Beautiful?"

He took my hand in his. "I'll take it."

I finally felt myself give weigh to the feeling of exhaustion. Ryuzaki noticed this and pulled the covers over us, holding me a bit closer to him.

I grinned wider. "Will you be staying by my side tonight?"

He hummed. "Why not? I quite enjoy your company. Plus, I'm not in the mood to stay awake tonight."

I chuckled. "So you _choose_ to be an insomniac?"

He shrugged. "Sometimes."

I rolled my eyes, cuddling closer into his chest. I was too tired to fight with him tonight. Tomorrow morning I'd give him a whack to the head. Well, after a shower maybe. I was not going home without being even remotely clean. Tonight, though, I didn't care. I was too happy to care. What was there not to be happy about? I had a good man, a good time, and an even better memory.

I smiled to myself. I hope Ryuzaki enjoyed being top tonight, because next time was all me!


	21. Chapter 21

_**A/N: Will try to get two more chapters done for today, but we're close to the end for this story... I think... we'll see how this goes.  
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_**Anyway, enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

"Didn't your mom say not under her roof?" I asked, sitting up a bit to look at Light.

He snickered. "Not while she's _under_ said roof."

I hummed. "Finding a loophole wherever you can. How utterly daring of you, considering this is also your father's house."

He sat up with me, hugging my torso. "Like you care."

I couldn't help but smile at this. "I suppose you're correct. There is a certain… excitement to all this. Knowing your dad could catch us at any given moment."

The brunette chuckled, falling back onto the pillows and taking me with him.

I had to admit, these past few weeks have been nothing more than a dream to me. Who knew Light had a high libido, not that I was complaining. Maybe it just had to do with being told what to do his entire life, and having a freedom like this was stimulating something inside of him that he hadn't thought of before. It didn't surprise me though. One of the natural human desires is the desire to feel free, and Light was not fulfilling this desire by listening to his father all the time.

And again, I wasn't complaining about it either.

I happened to enjoy all the extra time I had with him. Especially since he liked to experiment more times than he'd like to admit. There wasn't anything overly intense, but he didn't mind being the bottom for me. In this I was surprised. Yes, there was once or twice where he topped, but almost ninety percent of the time I was the top. And, again, I wasn't complaining, but I would've thought he'd fight for the chance to be on top. I chalked this up to being another freedom rush for him, so if he really didn't mind… why shouldn't I enjoy it?!

The school days had been tough for the both of us considering we couldn't even touch each other until we were out of eyesight. It was even worse knowing a school dance was coming up soon and almost every girl was asking Light to go with them. It took him quite a bit of time to reassure me that he didn't care for any of the females at the school, and that I was his one and only. Thinking about it now, I'm too sure Light wanted me more than any of the females. How would I know? I've been with my share of females, and they were not as fun as initially thought. On the rare occasion would I come across one that was fun to be around, but I didn't prefer them in the intercourse department.

But I had my own reasons for this.

I cuddled into his chest happily. "You do realize we still have one more day of school tomorrow, and it's the dance. Which means…"

"Don't say it." He growled. "I'm stressed enough as it is, I don't need to be reminded of the fact that more than enough women are going to be after me tomorrow to go to the dance with them."

I kissed his cheek. "My poor Light-kun."

He sighed heavily. "You are the only thing that is sane in my life right now, I swear it."

I hummed, sitting up in bed once again to look at him. "It's not that bad, Light. Tomorrow's a Friday, which means we have all weekend to ourselves."

"Not if my dad takes us to our grandmother's on Saturday. I swear, the woman is as hard-headed as my father. Not to mention she's a bigger homophobe than he _ever_ will be. If I even mention the word 'gay' she'd go on a tirade."

I cocked an eyebrow at this. "I thought you said once that your grandmother couldn't care less about gays?"

"No, that's granny. She's my mom's mom, and she doesn't care about gays or bisexuals or anyone. Hell, she thought I was gay for three years of my life."

I tried my hardest to hide my smile. "Light, I'd like you to take a long look at the position you're in at the moment and tell me you aren't gay."

He leaned up a bit to capture my lips for a split second. "You know what I meant."

He slipped out from under the covers to change back into his pants. I was quite saddened by this, to be honest. Light had a very nice body for someone his age. Most men when they were eighteen were still growing and becoming something of themselves. But Light was… well… perfection!

I exhaled a bit. "Could you at least leave your shirt off? I like to ogle at you for a bit before being pushed out your door in a hurry."

He climbed back into bed to lay a few kisses on my neck. "I'm not going to push you out the door. In fact, my dad's working all night tonight so you're free to stay here if you wish."

I almost considered this until I thought about Sayu. "No thank you, Light. Knowing your sister, she's never let this slide. Besides, like I said, I'm an insomniac. I'd get bored hanging out around here all night with nothing to do. My home is perfectly set up so that I may do as I wish throughout the night. I hope you don't mind."

He honestly seemed rather upset by this, even pouting a bit. "Fine, I suppose you're right."

He got up from the bed and handed me my shirt and jeans. "I suggest getting dressed right now, anyway. Sayu will be home soon and I know for a fact she's going to check my room first for you."

"Aw, she likes me!" I said happily, smiling a huge, fake, smile towards Light.

He rolled his eyes, grinning. "Just get dressed."

I did so quickly before hopping off the bed and following Light downstairs. He was about to walk me out the door when a knock came right as he put a hand on the doorknob. Before he could answer it though, Misa came bursting through and tackled him to the floor in pure delight. I had to admit, I did not see the rest of my day ending up this way.

Takada then entered the house, Teri, Tamlen, and Mikami being right behind her.

"Enough, Amane." She demanded. "We came here for a reason, remember?!"

She looked up at her questionably. "Huh? Oh! Right!" She realized as she got off of him. "Light, you need to tell us who you're taking to the dance, right now!"

Light continued to lay on the floor as he looked up at me. "What just happened?"

I shrugged half-heartedly. "I think Amane wants you to take her to the dance. That or she's insane… or both."

"We tried to stop them," Teri insisted, "but they came here anyway."

Light slowly sat up, looking more pained than he did before. "Misa… and Takada." He strained out as he tried to stand. "I'm not taking either of you to the dance tomorrow. I hate those things anyway. Just find someone else."

"But why?!" Misa whined, making me shudder.

I wasn't a fan of squeaky voices.

"Yes, Light." Takada began. "Why? You always say no to us and you don't give us a reason why. If it's because you don't want to hurt our feelings, don't worry about it. Misa can handle being let down for once in her life."

Tamlen started oohing at the comment. "Oh, it is on!" He exclaimed.

"Indeed." I commented. "How will you get out of this one, Light?"

Before he could answer, Misa shot back at Takada.

"And why would you think he'd choose someone as bland and boring as you, when he could date a model like me!? Really, Kiyomi, it's called makeup. I suggest you look it up."

"OHH!" Tamlen called. "And Amane retaliates with a low blow to the self-esteem!"

"What will Takada do to take Amane down now?" I added, playing along with the rather amusing set of circumstances.

"Would you two…!" Light tried, but Takada interrupted him.

"And why would he want a ditzy airhead who says her name twice to sound cute, when in reality it makes you sound more idiotic than you already are? Honestly, Misa, no wonder Light hides from us. Whenever he's around you he probably loses brain cells by the minute!"

"OOOOHH, BURN!" Tamlen exclaimed, laughing happily at all this.

Even I was smiling at this. "Shots fired!"

For about a few more minutes the girls threw insults at each other, making all of blush and laugh at the same time. I'd never met two girls with more hatred for each other than this, and I was _loving_ it! If only they knew Light didn't care at all about the two of them.

But why spoil the fun?

Light finally had it. "ENOUGH!"

The house quieted and both Tamlen and I were awaiting his choice. To be honest, I honestly thought he was going to choose between the two just to shut them up…

Until…

"I'm not going with either of you! I have a boyfriend!"

The two women were shocked to say the least, but I was speechless. Did Light seriously just come out and tell them he was gay? This was too much!

He finally calmed down. "Ryuzaki and I have been together for over a month now. I didn't tell you because I wasn't ready to come out quite yet. The only people who know are my mom, sister, Teri and Tamlen, and Mikami. I thought if I told you two, you'd flip out or tell the entire school about us. But, to tell you the truth, I don't CARE anymore if you tell people! If it'll get all those women off my case and leave me alone, go ahead and tell them! Besides… I'm happy with him. More than I'd ever be with one of those girls from school."

There was a silence following his explanation, but it didn't last too long before Misa squealed happily before hugging me and congratulating me on my relationship with Light. Takada was still completely stunned though.

Misa giggled. "I'm so happy for you two! You should totally come to the dance tomorrow as a couple! I mean, I'm still gonna tell everyone at school tomorrow, so it won't be much of a shock, but I'd love to see you two together!"

"But Light," Takada finally spoke up, "you don't honestly mean…"

"Yes, Takada, I do. Look, I don't know why I like him so much, and maybe I never will know. But I do… I love him with all my heart."

"But…"

"I'm sorry."

Takada looked more than a little heartbroken by this, but still forced out a smile anyway. "I understand. I'll leave you two alone."

"Please don't." I wheezed out, Amane still on my neck. "You're the only one that can tame the blonde beast around my throat, and I'd appreciate it if you got her off of me right now."

The tall dark haired woman giggled a bit before unhooking Misa's hands off of me and letting me breathe again.

"Thank you," I said happily.

Misa was now bouncing in her place. "Please, Light, will you and Ryuzaki come to the dance tomorrow!? It'll be nice seeing you two as a couple! Plus, you two can dance together again!"

I could see the look of despair and annoyance in Light's eyes, so I did what any good partner would do…

"Yes, Miss Amane. We will go!" I announced happily.

Light was in shock. "You're kidding me!"

I smiled cheekily, walking towards the door. "Well, you did say that you didn't care who knows anymore, right? So why not enjoy the freedom we have together?"

I gave him a peck on the cheek, making Misa squeal a bit, and I walked out the door. "And try to wear something nice tomorrow evening, Light."

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

My eye twitched. "That British bastard."

Teri chuckled happily. "Poor Light. Now he has to suffer through a school dance. With a twist! Now he's got a boyfriend to go with him."

Misa sealed again. "Light! This is so awesome! If you need any help on what to wear, I'm right here to help!"

"A lovely speech, though." Teri continued. "But just one problem. What about your dad?"

I looked at her, closing the door. "What about him?"

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Shouldn't he know about this, too? He _is_ your dad."

I shook my head. "No, he wouldn't understand. After that job offer with L, he didn't talk to me for a week straight. How will he act if he knew I had a boyfriend?!"

"But Light," she said calmly, "Ryuzaki is from England, born and raised. Do you really think he's going to stay in Japan the rest of his life with you? Never seeing his home again?"

"What are you getting at?" I asked, not really following.

She crossed her arms. "You have two weeks until graduation, Light. After that, who knows what's going to happen between you two. For all you know, he might move back to England to be with his brothers again."

"He could move them here," I reasoned, "it's not like he doesn't have the funding for it…"

"But it isn't the same." She countered. "Ryuzaki travels everywhere, he even told us himself. So of course he's going to miss home. You think he's going to give it all up to stay in Japan?"

"He could." I tried. "I know he could…"

"So then what will you do? Lie to your dad the rest of your life? Get a fake wife and kids while seeing him on the side? How unfair is that to Ryuzaki? No, you need to tell your dad in case worse comes to worse. If Ryuzaki stays, then that's great for you. But if he goes, what's going to be your choices? A long distance relationship? That's still unfair to him and you. So you go with him? Great, but how do you explain it to your father?"

She was right. There was no way out of this with him. I loved Ryuzaki, and I wanted us to spend a long time together. But I can't do that keeping him hidden from the people I care about.

I sighed heavily. "Give me one week to tell my dad. Even if he hates me afterwards, you're right to tell me to do this. I can't keep lying to him and expecting things to be alright in the future. Besides… I really don't know if Ryuzaki plans on staying or not. He's never said anything about it to me."

"Then be prepared for that." She warned me.

"But…" Misa started happily. "Until then, let's get you ready for tomorrow!"

And with that, she grabbed my hand and dragged me to my room in order to pick out my clothes for the dance. I was still a little miffed at Ryuzaki for doing this to me, but who knows…

Maybe it could be fun.


	22. Chapter 22

_**A/N: Sorry guys for keeping you waiting for so long, but I'm so tired from all this work I've been doing. Seriously, my campus is a literal city within itself and it takes me forever to walk around it all to all my classes! I've needed the rest so I hope you all can understand. :)  
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_**Anyways, thank you all for sticking around, you're lovely people for doing so, and I hope you enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

"Remind me why we're here again?" I asked irritably.

Ryuzaki only chuckled. "Relax, we're leaving soon anyway. As much as I love to see you squirm, I can't take this type of music. Honestly, who decided Tamlen should be the DJ for the night?"

"The person who offered him fifty bucks an hour."

He gave a slight pause. "Really? Most DJ's are twice that. No wonder they chose him."

I shrugged. "Cash is cash, I suppose, and you have make it however you can."

The night had dragged on like this for an hour and I was getting fed up. This was one of the many reasons I hated school dances. They were just nonsense, and all you did was hang around with your friends anyway. The only thing that wasn't bad about tonight was spending time with Ryuzaki. Albeit we were mocking everyone else, but he still looked good for the occasion. I admit, when he wore the right clothes and cleaned up a bit, Ryuzaki was downright handsome! Maybe even better looking than me.

…Maybe…

True to Misa's word, she'd let it slip that I was in a relationship with Ryuzaki as well. So most of this night was spent in trying to explain the set of circumstances and trying to tell women that I just didn't feel this way with them. More times than not, in addition, Ryuzaki was getting death glares from women who'd I'd left broken hearted. He didn't care though. In fact, he made it worse for himself when he either draped over me as soon as they glared, or initiated a kiss or two. I had to admit he was being rather childish about this, but it was also quite humorous to see all these girls hate him completely because I chose him over them.

He finally grabbed my hand. "Come on, let's just go now. I'm tired of being stared at anyway."

I followed him happily. "If they're staring it's just jealousy. You know that."

He scoffed. "I know, but I'm also getting stares from the male populace. Some more shocked than others, but I'd rather not deal with it at the moment. Movie at my place?"

"Sounds better than this dreck." I agreed as we quickly made our way out of the school gym.

The moment we got out the doors though a few girls tried to stop me, demanding to know why I'd chosen Ryuzaki over them. I answered them, but they were still flustered over everything.

"Seriously, Light!" One of them said angrily. "You can't possibly choose him over us! What does he have that we don't?"

"Brains, power, money, and a personality?" Ryuzaki muttered to himself.

I nudged his arm playfully before answering the girl. "I'm sorry, but I can't choose who I like. I love Ryuzaki, that's all I can say."

And with that we left. The girls still tried to stop us, but we ignored them. I wasn't in the mood to deal with them at the moment. I'd been at that dance for only an hour, but it felt like a lifetime to me. I needed some quiet time. A movie on the couch with my boyfriend sounded perfect at this time. I just hoped Misa and Takada wouldn't go looking for me at that dance.

We walked back to Ryuzaki's place, and the entire time we debated with each other about simple nothings.

Well… they were considered nothings to what would specify as 'normal' people.

"Light, I swear if you say one more thing about my candy…!"

I snickered to myself. "I'm just saying, it can cause diabetes…"

"Yes, to _normal_ people with _normal_ health. And, in fact, some candies can prevent cancer and lower the chances of getting migraine headaches. If anything, I'm saving my life right now."

I rolled my eyes. "Your addiction is making you believe things you read on the internet."

"Do you want me to push you into the street? Because I will."

"And if I died? What would you do then?"

He paused for a few moments before deciding. "Juliet my way into death with my Romeo?"

I couldn't help but laugh. He always had an answer for something.

"That's something I never understood." I admitted. "I mean, Juliet and Romeo have only known each other for, literally, days… they get married… consummate at the ages of fourteen and fifteen… then kill themselves over seeing each other's dead bodies. I remind you, barely a _week_ has passed. You'd think Romeo was just horny at the time and Juliet just happened to be there at the right moment and the right time, but people interpret this as love. It kind of confuses me."

"I'd have to agree with you on some aspect on that, Light." Ryuzaki began. "But there are some instances where love at first sight can happen, but people forget that there's a fine line between love and infatuation. Infatuation is what Romeo felt for Juliet, and vise-versa. When he thought she was dead he had to face his family alone with the consequences of being with a Capulet, so he killed himself. Same thing with Juliet. Love, however, is knowing the person fully and completely and accepting each other with all their perfections and faults. Love is being able to let someone go for their own happiness, even if it breaks your heart. It's sad… but it's true."

I smiled warmly at Ryuzaki. "And what about you? Do you love me? Or is it all infatuation?"

He took a quick glance at me before smiling cheekily. "Well, Light, I personally believe…

"That you put in too much hair gel."

I blinked, utterly confused. "Um… excuse…"

"And you roll your eyes too much."

I shook my head in dismay. "What on earth…?"

"And you slouch sometimes, but only while you're sitting. Plus you're constantly worried about health issues, you talk too much sometimes, and you have an ego bigger than your perfectly coiffed head."

I was getting incredibly annoyed now. "Listen, Ryuzaki…"

"And yet you still have a heart of gold." He continued, stopping my thoughts. "And you're always there when I need you. Your hugs are warm, and your smile makes my heart skip a beat. In truth, Light, I do love you, because despite all your faults… there's no one else on earth that could make me happier."

I could feel my cheeks go red a bit. "Thank you, Ryuzaki. I'm sorry if I…"

"No need to apologize, Light." He interrupted once more before walking closer to me.

I put my arm around his waist and hugged him closely. "I love you too."

I suddenly remembered what Teri had told me yesterday and I worried for my relationship with him once again. I wondered now whether or not he'd be staying in Japan… or going back to England. We had one more week before graduation. So… what would be his choice?

I had to ask.

"Ryuzaki? Are you planning on going back to England anytime soon? I'm asking simply because… well… I'm worried about our relationship."

He was silent for a long while. It didn't look like he had made a decision on the matter, or didn't want to speak about it. That's when I worried the most.

He sighed a bit. "Light, if I told you a secret, one that can't be shared with anyone no matter what – not even your father – what would you say?"

I stopped in my tracks. We were right outside Ryuzaki's place right now, but I couldn't focus on our previous plans. What had he meant by that? A secret? Was there something he was truly hiding from me? And what was this about my dad? Wasn't I keeping enough from him as it was? Now I had to pile more onto this! What was he trying to say here?!

"What do you mean? What's going on?"

He took a quick look at me before humming to himself. "Now's not the best time I suppose. Perhaps tomorrow after you have had a visit with that grandmother of yours."

He went to open the door but I grabbed his arm. "Tell me. I promise, you have my word that I won't say a thing to anyone. You can trust me… you know that."

He relaxed into my touch before turning to me. It looked as though he was making sure I was a trustworthy person to hold this… secret of his. And, for a slight moment, I'd worried that he'd done something he couldn't take back.

But I was wrong.

He stood up a bit straighter and sighed. After what seemed like one of the longest moments of silence to come from him…

He confessed…

"Light… I am L."


	23. Chapter 23

_**A/N: Another chapter done. Gonna try to write more for tomorrow, but I've seemed to have caught a rather nasty flu. I'll be okay now that I'm on top of it, but I'm writing a bit slower so it's taking me a lot longer to get chapters out. Please don't hate me. D:  
><strong>_

_**Anyways, thank you all for waiting, you've been splendidly patient, and I hope you enjoy!**_

_**Also, just so you know, the next P.O.V isn't going to be L or Light's. 10000 points to the house that guesses who it shall be!**_

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><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

_'Ryuzaki… L!? There is no way! He's messing with me! But… the equipment… all the case files… the video of L's proposal to me to work with him, and countless other evidence! He is the real thing!'_

My mind was a whirl of emotions, even a day after finding out about this. Of course, when he first told me he was L, I laughed at him thinking he was playing a joke. But… all the evidence he'd given me… it was too convincing. Even Wammy admitted to being Watari! He even showed me L's laptop from the day I met him! At this point… it was all too real.

And then his offer…

I remembered the conversation so clearly…

"Light," he'd said, "as L, I can't remain here in Japan. I need to be close to the Wammy house to keep check on my successors. However, with graduation being a week away, I don't suppose you'd take me up on my offer this time and come with me to England?"

I'd been stunned. "Ryuzaki… L… how could you possibly keep this from me?"

"Light, I can't just tell anyone that I'm L! It's a danger to me and my successors!" He'd defended. "But I'm giving you an opportunity to come with me again."

"What about the first time you asked me!?" I'd exclaimed. "Was that just a test!?"

"Yes." He admitted. "I needed to know that you were trustworthy to Ryuzaki before I could tell you I was L. And now that I know, I feel confident in telling you all this."

I couldn't believe everything I had heard. "So you lied to me?"

"To protect my home, Light. But none of it matters anymore. I already told you that I'm going to have to leave for England, which means one of two things… you stay here, or come with me. I'm giving you this option because I don't want what we have to end. I love you, Light. More than anyone I've ever been with. And I want to share my life with you. But I can't do that pretending to be two people and keep you in dark."

I'd sat down at this point, a little light-headed from all that had transpired. "Ryuzaki… even if I were to entertain this idea about leaving with you and becoming your partner… becoming L's partner… it's a lot to decide for me! I'd be giving up a lot to be with you! My home, my family, my friends…"

"And I have to do this almost every month, Yagami. It's painful, I know. But it's what brought me to you. And like I said… I love you. I want to be with you, but only if you know the truth and are willing to accept this and come with me willingly. I'll give you all the time you need this week to think about this. But I'm leaving right after graduation, with or without you. It's my job as L… no matter how much it hurts. But I'll always love you, Light. No matter what."

His words still clung to my memory of last night. I'd loved him as much as he loved me, but he was asking a lot! I didn't want to give up my family or friends, and leaving my home?! This was so much to think about and I only had a week to decide.

My grandmother caught my attention once again with her clearing her throat. "Light, you're spacing out again."

"Oh, leave him alone!" Granny demanded. "He's obviously thinking about something important!"

In a strange turnoff events, my granny from my mother's side had just gotten back from a trip she'd taken to Spain. My granddad wasn't much of a traveller, but was happy to see his wife off having fun. Before she went back to him in Okinawa, she'd stopped by our place to see me and Sayu and drop off a few gifts. Because of this, my father instead invited his mother over for a small family gathering. The only problem was, my grandmother and Granny were less than friendly with each other.

My grandmother scoffed. "A man his age should not be daydreaming like that. He has more important things to think about. Like finding a wife…"

I groaned at this but didn't say anything. Now was not the time to be bringing up relationships with anyone.

My phone buzzed for a second and I checked the caller I.D.

It was L.

_"How's the family gathering?" _He asked, trying to be amusing I would guess.

I texted back. _"Did Sayu text you?"_

A few seconds rolled by._ "Yes, and she's mocking you because you have to stay while she's at her school rehearsing with her choir. I must say, having two old ladies fighting about you must be quite a sight."_

As much as he made me angry the night before, he still had a way of making me smile. I suppose, no matter what, I couldn't stay mad at him. He still loved me, and I still cared for him.

My grandmother noticed this smile. "Oh! Is there already a girl in your life?!"

Both my mother and I went blank. We were the only two in the room to know about Ryuzaki, and it was becoming rather… strained to keep him secret.

Then, of course, granny got involved. "Or is it a boy? Be honest, Light!"

My father was appalled. "Please, Granny, enough with the assumptions about my son being gay! Light is not a queer, and he never will be!"

I felt my chest cave a bit at this, and texted Ryuzaki. _"My granny still thinks I'm gay."_

A few seconds pass. _"Well, aren't you?"_

_"Shut up!"_

A minute passed before he sent his next text. A minute of Granny laughing at my father for overreacting to a simple joke.

_"Want to sext each other?"_

_"What! Are you insane?!"_

I could tell he was laughing on the other end. Call it a sixth sense.

_"My poor Light-kun. You want me to just come over instead? I'll try to get you out of there, plus I'm in the car with Wammy anyway."_

_"How soon can you get here?"_

_"Ten minutes, tops. Until then we can sext each other!"_

_"You really are a pervert, aren't you?"_

_"Just sexually active, Light. Of course you don't much help with the situation, now do you?"_

_"Aw, you calling me sexy?" _I joked.

_"You know it, babe!"_

I couldn't help the small snicker rush past my lips. _"I'd appreciate it if you came and got me. We can talk more about this proposal of yours."_

_"Have you given it any thought?"_

I was about to answer when my grandmother cleared her throat again, grabbing my attention again. "Light, darling, it's rude to text while others are in the room. Now, tell us about this little girlfriend of yours."

"Yes," My granny started up, "now, are you top or bottom?"

Both me and my mother choked on our tea at this, having to stifle our laughs a bit. My father was unamused.

"Meadis," he said granny's name forcefully, "my son is in no way a homosexual. And I would appreciate it if you stopped referring to him as such! He's a good kid, with better options than being with a man."

I finally tried to step in. "Dad, it was just a joke. Just leave her alone…"

"No, Light!" He exclaimed. "Your Granny has to realize that comments like that aren't meant for polite get-together's! And furthermore, the fact that she holds on to the notion that you're gay is becoming rather tiresome!"

"But I don't care!" I admitted. "And it doesn't matter what she thinks. At least if I were gay she'd accept it. That's all that really matters, right?"

"But she is not your parent, Light! And as your parent, I say it would be a waste of time for you to even consider having a relationship with another male!"

"But what's the difference from having a male partner and a female one?!" I asked incredulously. "I don't see what's wrong with a man loving another man like he would a woman!"

"Light," my grandmother started, "you've been spending too much time at that public school you attend. Gay marriage, and being a homosexual in general, is highly immoral!"

"Why?" I questioned. "What's immoral about it!? The fact that it's two men?!"

"Exactly." She pointed out. "Union between a man and a woman is what was intended. Two men having this union is a complete waste of bloodline and status! Humans are meant to reproduce, and thus a heterosexual relationship is a pure one, blessed by god itself."

I suddenly felt furious over this. "Blessed by god? Is that a joke?! If god had anything to do with how one felt about another don't you think he wouldn't have gays in the first place?!"

"I'm with Light!" Granny agreed. "And you have some nerve speaking this way, Yagami!"

My grandmother merely scoffed. "The only reason there are gays at all in this world is because they choose to go against what god designed them for! Love between two men is just wrong, not to mention impossible!"

"IT ISN'T IMPOSSIBLE!" I screamed, standing up from my seat. Both my parents, and my grandmothers were shocked at my outburst. "You can't _possibly_ sit there and tell me love between two men is impossible! You just can't!"

My grandmother stood up to face me. "And why is that?!"

"BECAUSE I LOVE A MAN!" I blurted out, not even thinking.

The room went silent and I suddenly realized what I'd said. But… I hadn't cared. Why should I have?! My grandmother was wrong! Completely and utterly wrong! I loved Ryuzaki, no matter what secret he'd held from me, and no one could change that!

My father stood up slowly. "Light… son… tell me this is a joke. Tell me you aren't…"

I just looked away. "It's not, dad."

He sat back down, staring off towards the wall, in complete and utter shock. I hadn't meant to tell him this way, but dammit if I wasn't angry!

I suddenly noticed the front door was open and Ryuzaki was right there looking at me. I suppose he'd heard the entire thing.

I hurried out of the living room to get to his side to speak with him privately.

"How much did you hear?" I whispered to him.

He took a moment to get over the shock of me blurting out the truth. "I heard yelling while I was outside so I burst in just in case, but I didn't hear much past your little announcement."

I kissed his cheek happily, not even caring who saw. But this didn't get past my grandmother.

"Is this _him_?!" She asked, acid in her voice.

My father looked over to us and his face grew more surprized. "Light, please tell me you're kidding me! Please, please,_ PLEASE_ just tell me you're joking!"

I stepped out in front of Ryuzaki to protect him. "Yes, this is him. And no, I'm not joking. In fact, I've been in a relationship with him for a few months now. I've only just come out to everyone about it, but I still had to tell you, dad. But this isn't how…"

"Get out." He said bluntly, not letting me finish.

I felt my heart tear a little. "What? What are you…?"

"I said GET OUT!" He screamed, standing up again. "GET OUT, RIGHT NOW! AND DON'T YOU _DARE_ COME BACK HERE!"

"Soichiro!" My mother yelled. "How dare you kick out your own son for this?!"

He looked back at her. "How dare I? HOW DARE I?! Our son has been hiding his gay lover for months from me! He's been ruining his life for this… disgusting act! How can you possibly be okay with this!?"

"He's our son, Soichiro!" She screamed. "It shouldn't matter who he's with, as long as he's happy!"

"How could he possibly be happy with this!? It's a disgusting display and he's done nothing but ruin his chances at a better life because of it! No one's going to take him seriously if they find out he has gay lover!"

Ryuzaki stepped in at this point, getting in front of me. "Mr. Yagami, if I might say something…"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" He turned to the detective. "Because of you, my son is a disgrace! An absolute parasite to our family name!"

"Then maybe it'll make you feel better to know I'm leaving for England tomorrow night!" L announced.

My heart was shattered now. "W-what? Ryuzaki… you can't be serious…"

"You don't have to worry about me anymore." He announced, ignoring me. "Just… take good care of Light. I know he doesn't need me. Besides, he only dated me out of pity. He's not gay, and he's more than once expressed no interest in me on a physical level. He has a girlfriend on the side and…"

"No." I interrupted, grabbing his hand. "He's lying."

Now L was shocked. "Light, what are you doing?"

I sighed. "Something right, for a change." I then took a breath and looked my father right in the eye. "Don't listen to anything Ryuzaki is telling you, he's just trying to protect me. We are a couple, and I love him. If you can't accept that, then I don't care." I took another breath, feeling shaky. "And I'm going with him to England."

Both of my parents were stunned at this. Even Ryuzaki was surprized.

My mother shed a few tears. "Light, please think about what you're saying…"

"I am." I said sternly. "I was given the option last night to go with him, and after I slept on it… I decided to go with him. The original plan was to leave after graduation, but if he plans to leave earlier… then I'm going with him. I'm sorry, mom, but if dad won't accept this… then it's my only choice. I love Ryuzaki, and I love all of you, but I'm not being given much of a choice here."

I guided L out the door, his face still frozen in shock, then took one last look at my parents. "Goodbye. I love you all." Then shut the door quietly.

I kept the tears from falling until I got into the car with L. Once I knew my parents couldn't see me at all, I cried. Ryuzaki was there to help me catch the tears, but it was no use. I'd thought my father would be more reasonable than this, but obviously I was wrong. He'd hated me… he called me disgusting and wrong… and now I didn't have a father anymore.

I didn't have a family anymore.

No mom or sister… no father.

Ryuzaki kissed my cheek. "Please go back, Light. I hate seeing you like this."

I wiped the tears away and looked up at him. "Ryuzaki… L… I'd just be like this if I left you as well. I'm just hurt that my father would say such things about me. If he can't accept me and who I choose to spend my life with, then it's best I just leave and be where I'm accepted most. And that's with you."

He hugged me close and the tears began once again. That's when I heard Wammy start to speak with me.

"Light," the older man spoke, "I know how difficult it was for you to make this choice. And I'm sorry your father is being hard-headed about all this. But rest assured, dear boy, that he still loves you very much. He's just flustered at the moment. He'll come around at some point, I promise you."

I sniffled a bit. "But when?"

He shrugged slightly. "Maybe tomorrow… maybe in a few years. But your father does not seem like the kind of man to hate someone- let alone his son – for trivial matters like who you choose to spend your life with. Give him some time, and I know he'll come around."

I wiped away another tear, forcing a grin. "I suppose." I agreed, then asked about the trip to England. "So, are we leaving tomorrow or in a week?"

L forced a smile. "When would you like to leave?"

I chuckled half-heartedly. "How about after I get my stuff? My mom should be able to bring it to me if I call her."

"I shall grab it for you, Light." Wammy offered. "I don't know that your mother should be travelling anywhere near you for the moment, just in case your father tries to follow her."

I hummed at this. "Thank you, Wammy."

The rest of the ride to L's was silent. The only thing to comfort me was Ryuzaki's hand in my own. Today was nothing but drama for me, and I was more than sick of it now. I didn't like to think about what Sayu was going to say when she found out I was leaving, so I tried to focus on the positive.

I was going to England… with L… where I belonged. Right? Wouldn't I be accepted there? I mean, I'd be among other smart kids, and of course L. But, somehow, this wasn't enough for me. I wanted my parents to be part of this with me. To accept this and tell me it was a good choice. But they weren't. My mother was heartbroken, and my father wanted nothing to do with me.

Truly… this was the worst day of my life.


	24. Chapter 24

_**A/N: Meh... one more (Short) chapter before I go to bed I suppose.**_

_**Hope you all enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(Sayu P.O.V)<strong>

"I can't believe you let him walk out!" I yelled at my father. "All because you couldn't accept Ryuzaki!"

"Sayu, this has nothing to do with you! Now calm down!" He tried to command.

"No! Because of you and your prejudice attitude, I may never see my brother again! How could you do this to your family!? TO YOUR SON!?"

"If Light wants to ruin his life his way, then he's welcome to do so!" He yelled back. "I won't have any part of this whatsoever! I will not have a gay son!"

I was ready to tear out my hair in frustration now! How could my father say stuff like this and believe it's alright!? Light is his son, and my brother! And because of him and his attitude towards gays, Light was leaving for England in just a few hours! I'd never see my brother again, and it was all his fault! I loved my brother like my best friend, and he was being torn from us because of this damned hatred! How could my father be so dense!?

The moment I'd gotten home from choir practice I got the news. It tore my heart out to know my brother was leaving all because my father was being more hard-headed than usual, not to mention my grandmother wasn't making this any better. Granny was on my side of course, but there wasn't much we could do to change my father's mind.

I sat down on the couch and tried my hardest not to cry. Granny was right there beside me to comfort me.

"It's alright, sweetheart." She spoke softly to me. "You'll see Light again, I promise you. But he needs to be with the people who love him and accept him at the moment."

"Are you implying that I don't love my son!?" My father started up.

Granny stood from her seat and glared at the man. "Yes, Soichiro, because that's exactly how you're acting about all this! You should accept Light for who he is, and not discriminate him for his choices!"

My grandmother, from my father's side, then stood up. "Oh please, Light is a lost cause. Besides, he's obviously bluffing about going to England. Why would he commit himself to a man like that?! Did you not see him!? He was filthy! Not to mention unkempt, ratty, and completely worthless! Why on earth would he ever waste his time on something like that?!"

I got defensive with this now. "Because Ryuzaki is ten times the man my father would ever be!"

"Sayu!" My mother warned.

"No, I mean it!" I exclaimed. "When Light was suffering alone without a kindred spirit, not even our father stood up to the plate to help him! When we were young and I caught him trying to kill himself, he was so scared of dad that he wouldn't seek the proper help! The only person who listened to him was me and you, mom! And now that he has someone to truly make him feel happier than anything in the world, he has to live with the fact that our father wants nothing to do with him if he 'chooses' to be gay!" I then looked at my father, anger and fury carved on my face. "It's not fair how you're treating him, and you're a pathetic waste of skin for allowing yourself to become so consumed with hatred for something as beautiful as love! Light deserves SO MUCH better than you! THIS FAMILY DESERVES BETTER THAN YOU!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, SAYU!" He demanded.

I wasn't afraid of him. He needed to know the truth now, and I could see in his eyes how truly afraid of it he really was.

"You know nothing about Light, do you? You don't know anything about him other than he's a smart man. You think you know, but you don't! And the moment all of your plans for him fly out the door, you kick him out! What an absolute horrible father you make! I'm glad Light is going to England! At least he'll be happy for once!"

"Amen!" Granny spoke up.

My grandmother scoffed. "Sayu, don't waste your breath for that faggot! If he wants to choose to be a disgrace to the world, then let him! Obviously this family is better off without him."

I was about to scream at her some more when a knock came from the door. It was ten-thirty at night, so what visitor could there be?

My mother moved to answer the door and an elder gentleman walked through the door. I didn't recognize him but he seemed to be familiar with us for some reason.

He took off his hat as he spoke to my mother. "Good evening, madam. My name is Quillish Wammy. I've come on behalf of Light Yagami to pick up his things. He did give you a call, am I correct?"

My mother's eyes began watering as she quietly nodded. "I'll… I'll go get his bags. I packed all that I could when he called, but if I've missed anything…"

Mr. Wammy nodded. "I will come back if anything is missing."

My mother sniffled a bit before heading upstairs slowly. I could see the tears beginning to fall before she disappeared onto the second floor.

We all looked at the older gentleman, but it was my father who spoke to him.

"Where is he?" He demanded to know.

The man did not seem fazed by my father's rudeness. "Mr. Yagami, I presume? I'm sorry, but your son is in an undisclosed location and I cannot reveal his whereabouts."

"Dammit you old man, this is my son! NOW WHERE IS HE!?"

"Old man, am I?" He asked, then grinned slightly. "I suppose this is true. But I was a very young man at one point. A young man with dreams and hopes beyond imagination. I dreamed of marrying the perfect woman and settling down with the perfect wife and having perfect children. In time, I found this perfect woman, who became my perfect wife." He paused for dramatic effect. "But, we could never have the perfect children I dreamed of. But this would not faze my love for my perfect wife. When she passed in an accident, I vowed to give the earth the perfect children I'd promised…

"And I opened an orphanage."

The feeling in the room had changed from anger in awe. Even my father was quieted, but still slightly confused.

"What are you getting at? What does this have to do with my son!?" He got more agitated.

Wammy merely took a breath. "In this orphanage were many children, but a small boy who I'd found in London was the one I adopted as my own. He was a smart child, smarter than the rest. He was odd and unkempt, but he had a heart of solid gold. He went by Ryuzaki, and I wanted nothing more than to give him all that which he deserved."

I blinked in surprise. Ryuzaki never mentioned he was an orphan. Not to me anyways.

Wammy continued. "For years I raised this young boy to fight for what he believes in. To know love from hate, right from wrong, and to forgive others when they deserve such. I wanted all that was best for him, but most of all… I wanted him to be happy. And so, when he told me of his affections for both the same sex and the opposite, I smiled and told him I still loved him no matter what. Because, although he desires the love of a partner – male or female – a child will always need his parents love. For there is nothing more precious than the bond between a man and his son.

"And Ryuzaki will always be my perfectly perfect son. It does not matter to me that he is my own flesh and blood, is smart or dull, or is gay or straight. I raised him to know right from wrong, to have the opportunities that most do not. Who he chooses to give his love to is none of my business. Not as long as he is happy."

My mother suddenly returned with a large suitcase and Wammy took it from her gratefully. And, after thanking her, he turned to the rest of us – but more specifically my father.

"Light Yagami is a fine young man. He's done nothing to hurt my child, and I pray Ryuzaki has done the same. My son is happy with him, and I believe yours is as well. But at this moment, your son is suffering with a guilt that is absolutely tearing his heart into pieces. And I know this guilt is hurting my son as well. I ask of you this, Mr. Yagami, to set aside your indifference to this union, and allow your son to be happy."

He tipped his hat to us before making his exit. "Goodnight to you all. And thank you for your time."

The door closed and the room was silent. Wammy had successfully stopped all the fighting in the room with one fell swoop. And I admired him for this, because lord knows none of us were getting anywhere with all this yelling.

I suddenly noticed granny get up and shuffle over to the door.

"Gran?" I spoke up. "Where are you…?"

"That man knows where my Night-Light is! If he's going off to England to be with that Ryuzaki boy, I at least want to say my goodbyes before he goes!"

I jumped up from my seat. "I'm going too!"

"No," she commanded, "you stay here and cool off, all of you!" She directed to all of us. "I must speak with Light myself. I will call you later to confirm where you will say your last goodbyes. If he's truly leaving tomorrow, he'll likely meet you at the airport."

She shuffled away and out the door to hurry to Wammy's car. The woman was determined, I'll give her that… but I wish it was my father who was going instead. If he could just listen to Light instead of commanding him…!

My father grumbled. "I'm going to bed." He announced as he made his way to the stairwell. "Mom, just… go home."

"Excuse me!" My grandmother growled. "How dare you…"

"Go… home." He demanded, not even caring how angry she was at him.

She gasped incredulously at him before leaving our house in a huff. At least one problem was gone. But now to deal with Light…

And the possibility of never seeing him again.


	25. Chapter 25

_**A/N: I might post one more chapter for today, but we'll see. I'm still a bit under the weather.  
><strong>_

_**Please enjoy!**_

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><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

Light was still crying when Wammy had left to go grab his things. I still could not believe his father would say all that horrid stuff about him! I almost wanted to smack him for being so intolerant about all this! Light was his son! His own flesh and blood! So what if he had a boyfriend?!

Then again, Soichiro Yagami had been trying to raise his son to have a perfect life. I didn't like the thought, but if this didn't calm down soon…

I may decide to just end it with Light.

I didn't want that to happen to us, but look where we'd gotten ourselves. I loved Light, but I can't stand to see him hurting so much over this. If I broke it off with him… he'd be back with his family and having a better life. All I wanted was Light's happiness, even if it meant misery for myself. That's what love was. Thinking about them before yourself.

I stayed sitting on the couch with him, his tears finally subsiding a bit. If I could, I'd do anything to end this pain he was suffering through.

He took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, L. I know I shouldn't be…"

"Don't you apologize, Light." I interrupted, pulling him into a hug. "You have no reason to."

He sniffled slightly before hugging me back. "I love you," he replied softly. "You know that, right?"

"Of course, Light-kun. And I love you too. I'm just sorry you have to go through all this."

He sighed to himself. "At least I'm not alone."

I kissed his forehead at this point. "No, Light. Of course not. And you never have to be."

We drifted into silence at this point but it didn't last long since Wammy came home in no time. But when he'd walked through the door… another person followed him.

I remembered her from Light's house. She was an elder woman, possibly his grandmother. This one hadn't spoken while we were there, however. The brunette had said he'd had two grandmother's over, and I believed that this one was on our side.

Light finally noticed her. "Granny!? What are you doing here?!"

She smiled at him. "Oh, my little Night-Light! I'm glad you're alright!"

I couldn't help the choke of laughter. "Night-Light?"

He growled at me as he stood up to greet her. "Gran, please don't call me that."

"Why?! That's my little name for you!" She said excitedly as she hugged him. "My little Night-Light!"

I snickered. "Care to explain the reason behind this nickname?"

"Gran…" Light tried to warn, but was too late.

"Well, Light used to be afraid of the dark so I bought him a nightlight to help him cope. Ever since, he's been my little Night-Light!"

I shifted my gaze to the brunette who looked more than mortified by the story. "That… is… precious."

"Oh shut it, Ryuzaki!" He demanded before turning his attention back to his Granny. "Gran, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you off!" She said happily. "If you're going to England, then I want you to know I support your decision! I'll miss you terribly, but as long as you're happy then I too am happy!" She then looked at me. "And is this the young man you'll be living with from now on? My, what a handsome one he is!"

I couldn't help but smile at her as I stood from the couch. "And you, madam, are a very charming woman."

She hurried to my side to get a better look at me. "Now, let's see… strong jaw, meaning he has determination… focused eyes, but with a sense of wonder…" she lifted my chin a bit to get a look at the rest of me. "A nice physique…" she implied, wriggling her eyebrows at Light who blushed slightly. "And, from what I can see from his smile, he has a good personality. I'd say you bagged yourself a keeper, Light!"

"Gran…" he tried, but she still waved him off.

"Oh, hush you! Ryuzaki seems like a fine young man, and I can't see the reason why your father doesn't see the same as me." She did a look over of me and giggled when she got a look from behind. "You are incredibly lucky, Night-Light. British men have the best butts!"

"Gran!" He exclaimed, blushing even more now.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, I like her!"

Light only groaned. "Gran, I appreciate you coming here but you should probably go home."

"Nonsense," she replied before smacking my butt, making me jump towards Light. This woman was adorable, I'll admit, but had no sense of personal boundaries. "I want to say goodbye to my grandson properly. I know this isn't easy for you, but I think what you're doing is the right thing."

The brunette before me sighed slightly. "I'm not even sure, though. I mean… I _want_ to be with Ryuzaki…!"

"Then be with him! What's stopping you?!"

Light got flustered at this. "Granny, I don't want to leave my life behind!"

"So then make a new one! A better one than you had here, and with the man you love! Don't you want that?!"

"I do…!"

"Then stop second guessing yourself and looking for others to make the choice for you!" The woman raised her voice to him. "Your father has been holding your hand for you for eighteen goddamned years! Take control of your life and make your own decisions! If you love someone, then no one – not even your father – should stop you from feeling the way you do! Do you love Ryuzaki?!"

The brunette nodded slowly after a pause. "Of course I do…"

She looked at me. "Do you love my Night-Light?!"

I nodded once. "Yes, I do."

"Then be together!" She demanded. "No matter where you two are. Japan, England, or Jupiter, it doesn't matter!"

She suddenly sat down on the couch and pulled out an old photo from her purse. "Come here and tell me what you see."

The two of us slowly made our way towards her and looked at the picture. In it were two people, a man and a woman, in wedding clothes under a flowery arch.

Light knew instantly what this was. "You and Granddad? What about it?"

"Your grandfather was a wealthy businessman's son with money coming out of every hole! I was the daughter of a laundress, with barely a coin to my name. Of course my fates decided to bring us together at some point, but no one thought it was right for someone of his stature to be even acknowledging someone like me. And what did he do when his father found out?"

Light sighed. "He ran away with you?"

"No. He stood up to him. He told him what he wanted and how much he loved me. Even when his father threatened to cut him off from all his money, he demanded that he marry me and no one else. At a moment where he could have lost everything, he chose me over the respect of his father.

"Now Light," she turned to the brunette, "you've done a brave thing by choosing Ryuzaki over your father, but you're forgetting to stand up for both yourself and your man. How can you possibly live your life in England without even demanding the slightest bit of respect from your father? If you take a stand against him, and yet he still can't respect you, then move on. There's no changing someone's mind after that."

Light growled a bit. "But Granny, you saw how he reacted. He won't listen…"

"He will," she reassured. "He's just upset with you because you kept this secret from him. He loves you, like a good father should. Speak with him, but demand respect. Don't keep asking for it because it's not something you can ask for. It's something you earn."

She got up from her seat, having put away her photo. "Today you have earned my respect, Ryuzaki's, and your mother and sister's. Your father is merely upset because this is the first time you've fought against him. Demand respect, then walk out. After that, you can say you've tried. But don't you leave your family without a goodbye, young man. They deserve more than that."

And with that, she bowed to us in respect. "Thank you for your time." And she made her way towards the door.

Before she left, however, she took one last look at me with a smile. "And Ryuzaki."

I stood up a bit straighter. "Yes, Granny?"

Her smiled warmed up a bit. "Take good care of my little Night-Light."

I then bowed to her. "I shall do my best, Madam Gran."

She giggled slightly before shutting the door.

Wammy seemed more than pleased with the little speech she gave us. "I shall drive her home, if she will let me. I suppose you two need to talk about some things anyways."

Light chuckled for the first time that night. "I wouldn't worry about her, Wammy. She's a tough old bat with a few good punches left in her."

"All the same," he replied, "I'd feel better if I drove her."

He grabbed his hat before excusing himself and walking out the door to catch her.

I turned to Light with a slight grin. "Have you changed your mind, then? Do you want to stay here in Japan?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I want to go with you, really I do. But… I don't know that I can leave Japan as easily as I thought. Not to mention I'd be so far from my friends and family… I'm just unsure. I feel so torn."

I sighed inaudibly to myself. "Light, I don't want you to come with me because you feel you have to. I want you to come with me because it's something _you_ want to do. I'd love to have you with me, but I don't want to tear you away from the people you care about. I told you before, I can't stay in Japan forever…"

Light brushed his hair back with his hand. "I know… and I won't stop you from leaving." He kissed my cheek then hugged me closely. "Let me think about this tonight. I know I said I'd go with you…"

"I understand," I interrupted, "I won't hold it against you if you stay. I love you, no matter what you decide."

He nodded solemnly. "I love you too."


	26. Chapter 26

_**A/N: Sorry to do this to all of you, but this will be the final chapter. I've loved writing this story, but there's not much more I can do at this point. And with me being swamped with homework, I can't be writing fanfics too much.  
><strong>_

_**I thank you all for enjoying the story, and I hope you will continue to read the series - this being picked up in "A New Family Member" and I'm incredibly lucky to have such wonderful readers and reviewers. I wish I was a better author for you all.**_

_**Just so you all know, however, I am planning on a bunch of spin-offs, one-shots - and a a few more prequels - to this franchise. So look out for those!**_

_**Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy this final chapter! **_

* * *

><p><strong>(Light P.O.V)<strong>

I felt my stomach churn a bit from all this. I knew in my heart I'd made the right choice, but I also knew I was going to be slightly heartbroken by this.

I opened the door to my home.

The very moment I stepped through I could see my family in the living room all together. Sayu was the first to see me and she ran to hug me. The next was my mother… then my father saw me. He didn't seem mad anymore. More like he was irritated. I suppose he had every right to be… but he brought it on himself more than anything.

My mother started tearing up. "Light! I'm so glad you didn't leave!"

"Me too!" Sayu agreed as she hugged me tighter. "I know how much you loved Ryuzaki, but things will work out I promise you!"

My father then stood up, a new arrogance to his eye. "And thank god that's over. It's good to see you came to your senses, son. Now you can focus on what's best for you, and we can all forget about your little… experiment with Ryuzaki."

I hadn't said a word since entering the house. I thought for sure that my family knew what my choice was, but apparently it had to be spelled out for them.

"Ryuzaki is waiting in the car outside." I said bluntly. "I just came to tell you all goodbye. I don't want our fight to be the last thing I say before leaving all of you."

Both my mother and sister were saddened by this, but I knew they supported me. It was my father that was angry about this.

"Light," he warned, "don't mess up your life for this!"

"I'm not messing anything up, dad." I replied calmly. "I'm just choosing my own path to take. I can't keep holding your hand anymore, I'm eighteen! I know you want what's best for me, but you have to be able let me go and let me find what _makes_ me happy."

"You're just a child, son." He spoke up, sounding more desperate than before. "You don't know what it is you want yet."

I sighed slightly. "No, I really don't." I paused for a second. "But I know I need a change of pace. I know I need to explore and find what's best for me out in the real world. And as long as Ryuzaki is there by my side, not to guide me like my father or push me out in front to save himself from the inevitable… but to be with me when I stumble and help me back up. Because, the truth is, I don't need followers or a guide… I need a partner. And the best one for me is Ryuzaki."

My dad just shook his head. "Then why come here?! Surely your mother and sister could see you off at the airport instead of here."

I relaxed myself a bit before speaking to him. "Because I want you to be part of my life. I know you don't see eye to eye with my decision, but you always taught me to follow my instincts and shoot for the stars." I held out my hand a bit. "And I can't leave without being on good terms with you. You're my father, you raised me and provided for me my whole life! As a child, you were my hero!" I smiled at the memory. "Better than any superhero, or even L!" I felt my heart break with these thoughts. "Are you really going to let my preferences tear us apart? Is me having a boyfriend so disgusting to you that you'd choose to ignore me until the day you die? Is this so important to you?"

A few moments went by before he looked away from me. Not even saying a word. I suppose this was my answer.

I took another sigh before turning to the women in my life and giving them one final hug goodbye.

My mother was in tears at this point. "I'm so sorry, Light."

I glanced at my father before accepting this truth. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm sorry for getting you all worked up yesterday. I hope you know I didn't mean it."

Sayu shook her head before getting her own hug. "Don't even worry about it, Light. We'll be alright. You should go now. We don't want you to miss your flight."

I nodded happily, giving my hug to her one last squeeze before letting her go. As I opened the door to leave, I couldn't help but smile at her.

"Hey, if you meet a boy, I suggest not telling Tamlen or Mikami about it. They might just get back at you for the closet incidents." I joked.

She held up a fist. "I'll knock 'em one if they try to!"

I smiled happily at my sister's spunk before ultimately closing the door…

And saying my final goodbye to my home.

* * *

><p>"They should be done fueling the plane soon," Ryuzaki spoke up after hanging up his phone. "Wammy will be flying us."<p>

"Is there anything that old man _can't_ do?" I asked jokingly, feeling my mood lighten up a bit.

L thought about this. "Surprisingly, he can't make soufflé."

I was semi-surprised at this. "Really?"

The detective shrugged. "Apparently."

He took a seat next to me and we waited together for the call from Wammy to arrive at the plane. I was incredibly excited, of course, but I still felt at a loss due to my father. More than anything I wanted him to be part of this, but he was being too hard-headed to listen to me. Why couldn't he see how much better this was for me? It was so frustrating!

A female voice suddenly rang out. "Light!"

Before I could question it, Misa was upon me and hugging me tightly. Takada, Teri and Tamlen, and Mikami were trailing behind.

I un-clung the blonde from my neck. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Your mom told us about your departure when we came by your house to hang out, and we decided to see you off." Teri replied.

Misa nodded. "We're so happy for the two of you! But… I can't believe you're leaving, Light. You won't be graduating with us."

I smiled at her. "No, but I won't forget you guys."

The five of them happily joined in on a group hug – having forced Ryuzaki to join us – and they all wished us luck. I had to admit, as annoying as they all were… they were the best friends I could have asked for.

Ryuzaki's phone buzzed and he answered it immediately. After a few short words, he hung up his phone and told me it was time to leave.

I sighed heavily. _'Goodbye home.'_

Right as I stood up and grabbed my stuff, another voice rang out. This one, however, was male and aged. And he was calling my name Like Misa had.

When I looked, I couldn't believe what I saw…

It was my dad.

I prepared for the worst when stopped in front of me, huffing from the run, and looked up into my eyes. Behind him I could see my mother, sister…

And Granny?

At this point, I didn't even care about my father being there. What was Granny doing here? Didn't she already say her goodbyes?

She giggled at me. "I told your granddad about all this and he demanded I come find you and give you this."

She shuffled up to me and handed me a parcel. "We bought it for you for graduation, but since you're leaving he thought you should have it now."

I chuckled a bit. "So you took an hour train ride to see me off… again! Shouldn't granddad be here too?"

"That old cod won't leave his television even if the world was ending!" She joked. "Besides, I offered to go!" She looked past me to look at L who was hiding behind Misa. "I didn't get a good smack of that British bottom yesterday!"

"You stay away from me, Granny!" L warned.

She only giggled as she started chasing after him. I had to admit, my Granny was a character. A lovely woman when she had to be… but a straight up deviant when she was on her own. My poor Ryuzaki, having to deal with her as politely as he could while getting groped by her.

I chuckled to myself. _'He'll manage.'_

I opened the parcel and smiled at the gift. My Granny was your typical grandma when it came to gifts. She made everything she gave us with love and care. This year's gift? A handmade sweater made from the softest wool. Sayu never really appreciated gifts like this, but I sure did. However, my granddad didn't like being cheap so he always stuffed the homemade gift with something amazing. For his gift to me, he'd put inside a brand new laptop.

When Granny crossed my path, having chased L around me for a bit – threatening to pinch his… erm… cheeks – I stopped her from harassing him and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you Granny. I love it! And tell Granddad I'll call him later to thank him as well."

She gave me a hug back. "Of course, my little Night-Light! But, if you really want to thank me, you'll stop your man from running so I can get a good squeeze!"

L was out of breath at this moment, but still on edge. "Your Gran is starting to scare me, Light."

I snuffed at him. "This is my family, Ryuzaki. Learn to deal with it."

My mom then took Granny away from the scene. "Light, your father has something he'd like to say to you."

I looked towards the man and saw the fear in his eyes. No, not fear… sadness. Like he didn't want to see me go.

"Son," he started off, "you were right about what you said before. You've grown into a fine young man, and I have to stop holding your hand and guiding you along the path. You know what you're doing… but I want you to realize something.

"From the moment you were born, you have always been my child. Of course I want you to be happy, but I also want what's best for you. The way I reacted about your relationship with… him…" he gestured toward the detective, "was completely uncalled for. In no way are you disgusting, and of course you haven't disgraced this family." He pulled me into a hug and I felt my heart thump happily. "You're my son, and I love you. No matter what you do with your life, I will always support you."

I had to test this. "And if I go to England right now?"

"You have my blessing." He replied, pulling away from me.

He then looked at Ryuzaki who was waiting for this confrontation. If I knew L he wouldn't confront my father with anger, but my dad was a different story.

He strode up to the detective, then held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryuzaki."

The man just stared at his hand for a moment before answering, "And you, Mr. Yagami. Excuse me if I don't shake your hand, but I'm not much of a physical person…"

My father didn't look too pleased with this answer, and I worried for the relationship between them to be more strained than before.

As soon as my father put down his hand, however, L ran in to hug him. We were all quite shocked to see this until he spoke up.

"But thank you. You have no idea how happy you've made me."

My father seemed put off by this sudden behaviour, having slowly placed his arms around the man in an embrace. "I'm… sorry?"

L only smiled. "I couldn't live with myself knowing you and Light were still on bad terms. But seeing you two right now… it makes me happy. To see Light happy, and his family. It's all I want for him."

In a surprising turn of events I actually saw a tear roll down my dad's cheek. Had Ryuzaki truly…?

My dad gave him one last squeeze of a hug before letting him go. "Take good care of my son out there. He hasn't been away from Japan…"

Ryuzaki grinned happily. "I wouldn't worry about him. I'm loaded with cash and have guards to spare where we're going. Believe me, Light will be fine."

I could see the incredulous look on everyone's faces. Even my dad's.

L didn't seem fazed by this. "Are you quite alright with this union now that you know Light is with a rich man with means?"

My father blinked before agreeing rather quietly.

L's phone buzzed again, but he didn't answer it. "Light, we need to leave. The plane is ready."

I quickly gave everyone a final hug goodbye, lingering with my dad so that I could thank him for giving me peace, and before long we were off.

I was going to miss Japan, this was true. I was going to miss all my friends and family… but with a once in a lifetime opportunity like this, to work alongside L and live with the one person I loved more than anything, and to have a life all of my own…

How could I say no?

* * *

><p><strong>(L P.O.V)<strong>

As we sat in our seats, getting ready for take-off, I looked over to Light and smiled at the change I saw. He was happy now. He had no regrets and he could spend his time in England with no worries concerning his family or friends. And I just knew that Wammy's would be perf…

Wammys house… my successors! I hadn't told them about this at all!

The moment the plane started moving Light noticed my nervousness.

"Ryuzaki, is there something wrong?" He asked hesitantly.

I looked back at him, feeling my heart quake a bit with fear. "Well, Light, do you remember when I told you L had successors?"

He didn't seems worried about this at all. He actually looked excited. "So I'll get to meet them, then! Ryuzaki that's awesome! Why do you look so worried?!"

I decided to fib. "Because I thought you didn't like kids! This is great! You're right, I've got nothing to worry about!"

He chuckled happily before turning away to dig through his things to find something to occupy his time. With this being a private plane, he had a lot more at his disposal than he would were we flying in public planes.

I cringed a bit and mentally slapped myself for being so stupid.

_'The boys are going to tear him apart! I just know it! Why didn't I tell them!? I'm such a moron!'_

I slunk into my chair a bit and sighed heavily. _'Sorry Light. I'll tell you more when we get to England, but for now… the less you know, the better.'_

I then hummed at the thought. Maybe they won't be so bad. I mean… Mello might be an issue, but Matt should be just fine. Near I wasn't too sure about, considering he was so young and new to the Wammy house, but he liked me. Then again… Near _only_ liked me.

I sighed yet again. _'I'm not sure how well you'll do Light. It might take years, but you should earn their trust in time.'_

I felt a kiss to my cheek then and I jolted out of my thoughts. "What was that for?"

He cuddled into me a bit. "For just being you. I love you L… Ryuzaki."

I hummed a bit at this and cuddled back. My worries over the boys subsiding slightly. "I love you too, Light."

I just hoped the boys would as well.


	27. Chapter 27

_**A/N: *Groans* Well, my cousin just wants to see me fail in school! But, thanks to her, I posted the next prequel a week early on her behest. You're welcome, loyal readers.**_

_**Thank you, cousin, for the spam of emails I must now delete before heading off to bed!**_

_**And, to my loyal readers, I hope to see you there.**_


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